UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


A  ROVING  COMMISSION 


I    HAVE    HEARD    A    GREAT   DEAL   OF   YOU,    MR.   GLOVER, 
THE   ADMIRAL   SAID. 


A   ROVING   COMMISSION 


OR 


THROUGH  THE  BLACK  INSURRECTION 
AT  HAYTI 


BY 

G.  A.  HENTY 

Author  of  "  With  Frederick  the  Great,"  "  The  Dash  for  Khartoum" 
"  Both  Sides  the  Border,"  etc. 


WITH  TWELVE  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  WILLIAM  RAINEY,  R.I. 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1904 


Copyright,  1899, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SON*. 


Stack 

Annex 


PREFACE 

TTORRIBLE  as  were  the  atrocities  of  which  the  monsters  of 
-TjL  the  French  Revolution  were  guilty,  they  paled  before  the 
fiendish  outrages  committed  by  their  black  imitators  in  Hayti. 
Indeed,  for  some  six  years  the  island  presented  a  saturnalia  of 
massacre,  attended  with  indescribable  tortures.  It  may  be 
admitted  that  the  retaliation  inflicted  by  the  maddened  whites 
after  the  first  massacre  was  as  full  of  horrors  as  were  the  out- 
rages perpetrated  by  the  blacks,  and  both  were  rivalled  by  the 
mulattoes  when  they  joined  in  the  general  madness  for  blood. 
The  result  was  ruin  to  all  concerned.  France  lost  one  of  her 
fairest  possessions,  and  a  wealthy  race  of  cultivators,  many  be- 
longing to  the  best  blood  of  France,  were  annihilated  or  driven 
into  poverty  among  strangers.  The  mulattoes,  many  of  whom 
were  also  wealthy,  soon  found  that  the  passions  they  had  done 
so  much  to  foment  were  too  powerful  for  them ;  their  position 
inder  the  blacks  was  far  worse  and  more  precarious,  than  it 
had  been  under  the  whites.  The  negroes  gained  a  nominal 
liberty.  Nowhere  were  the  slaves  so  well  treated  as  by  the 
French  colonists,  and  they  soon  discovered  that,  so  far  from 

"i 

«  profiting  by  the  massacre  of  their  masters  and  families,  they 
1  were  infinitely  worse  off  than  before.  They  were  still  obliged 
,  to  work  to  some  extent  to  save  themselves  from  starvation; 

^  they  had  none  to  look  to  for  aid  in  the  time  of  sickness  and 


445003 


PREFACE 

old  age ;  hardships  and  fevers  had  swept  them  away  wholesale ; 
the  trade  of  the  island  dwindled  almost  to  nothing ;  and  at  last 
the  condition  of  the  negroes  iu  Hayti  has  fallen  to  the  level  of 
that  of  the  savage  African  tribes.  Unless  some  strong  white 
power  should  occupy  the  island  and  enforce  law  and  order, 
sternly  repress  crime,  and  demand  a  certain  amount  of  labour 
from  all  able-bodied  men,  there  seems  no  hope  that  any  amelio- 
ration can  take  place  in  the  present  situation. 

G.  A.  HENTY. 


CO  NTE  N  TS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  A  FIGHT  WITH  A  BLOODHOUND i 

II.  REJOINED 21 

III.  A  SLAVE  DEPOT 38 

IV.  A  SHARP  FIGHT 58 

V.  A  PIRATE  HOLD 76 

VI.  THE  NEGRO  RISING 93 

VII.  IN  HIDING 112 

VIII.  A  TIME  OF  WAITING 132 

IX.  AN  ATTACK  ON  THE  CAVE 152 

X.  AFLOAT  AGAIN 172 

XI.  A  FIRST  COMMAND 191 

XII.  A  RESCUE 211 

XIII.  Two  CAPTURES 232 

XIV.  THE  ATTACK  ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE 253 

XV.  THE  ATTACK  ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE 273 

XVI.    TOUSSAINT   L'OUVERTURE 293 

XVII.  A  FRENCH  FRIGATE 311 

XVIII.  ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT 331 

XIX.  HOME 352 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PACK 
"I   HAVE   HEARD    A    GREAT    DEAL    OF    YOU,   MR.   GLOVER,"    THE 

ADMIRAL  SAID Frontispiece 

"  HEADED  BY  NAT,  THE  CREW  OF  THE  GIG  LEAPT  DOWN  ON  TO 

THE   DECK  " 40 

THE  GUNS  ON  THE  RAMPART  SEND  A  SHOWER  OF  GRAPE  INTO 

THE  PIRATE 64 

"IT  WAS  NOT  LONG  BEFORE  HE  CAME  ACROSS  THE  FIGURE  OF 

A  PROSTRATE  MAN  " 122 

"HE  FELL  LIKE  A  LOG  OVER  THE  PRECIPICE" 164 

THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  COAST 178 

THE  RESCUE  OF  LOUISE  PICKARD 212 

"  FOUR  SHOTS  WERE  FIRED  AND  AS  MANY  NEGROES  FELL"   .    .  226 

"THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  PIRATES  SHOOK  HIS  FIST  IN  DEFIANCE"  246 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE 294 

"DROP  IT!"  NAT  REPEATED 308 

"  NAT  SPRANG  ON  TO  THE  RAIL " 318 


A  ROVING   COMMISSION 


CHAPTER  I 


A   FIGHT  WITH   A   BLOODHOUND 

j|OW,  look  here,  Nathaniel  —  " 

"  Drop  that,  Curtis,  you  know  very  well  that  I 
won't  have  it.  I  can't  help  having  such  a  beast  of 
a  name,  and  why  it  was  given  me  I  have  never  been 
able  to  make  out,  and  if  I  had  been  consulted  in  the  matter  all 
the  godfathers  and  godmothers  in  the  world  would  n't  have 
persuaded  me  to  take  such  a  name.  Nat  I  don't  mind.  I 
don't  say  that  it  is  a  name  that  I  should  choose ;  still,  I  can 
put  up  with  that,  but  the  other  I  won't  have.  You  have  only 
just  joined  the  ship,  but  if  you  ask  the  others  they  will  tell  you 
that  I  have  had  at  least  half  a  dozen  fights  over  the  name, 
and  it  is  an  understood  thing  here  that  if  anyone  wants  a 
row  with  me  he  has  only  got  to  call  me  Nathaniel,  and  there  is 
no  occasion  for  any  more  words  after  that." 

The  speaker  was  a  pleasant-faced  lad,  between  fifteen  and 
sixteen,  and  his  words  were  half  in  jest  half  in  earnest.  He 
was  a  general  favourite  among  his  mess-mates  on  board 
H.  M.  frigate  Orpheus.  He  was  full  of  life  and  fun,  excep- 


2  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

tionally  good-tempered,  and  able  to  stand  any  amount  of  chaff 
and  joking,  and  it  was  understood  by  his  comrades  that  there 
was  but  one  point  that  it  was  unsafe  to  touch  on,  and  that  sore 
point  was  his  name.  It  had  been  the  choice  of  his  godmother, 
a  maiden  aunt,  who  had  in  her  earlier  days  had  a  disappoint- 
ment. Nat  had  once  closely  questioned  his  father  as  to  how 
he  came  by  his  name,  and  the  latter  had  replied  testily  : 

"  Well,  my  boy,  your  Aunt  Eliza,  who  is,  you  know,  a  very 
good  woman  —  no  one  can  doubt  that  —  had  a  weakness.  I 
never  myself  got  at  the  rights  of  the  matter.  Anyhow,  his 
name  was  Nathaniel.  I  don't  think  there  was  ever  any  formal 
engagement  between  them.  Her  own  idea  is  that  he  loved 
her,  but  that  his  parents  forbade  him  to  think  of  her ;  for  that 
was  at  a  time  before  her  Aunt  Lydia  left  all  her  money  to 
her.  Anyhow,  he  went  abroad,  and  I  don't  think  she  ever 
heard  of  him  again.  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was  an  entire 
mistake  on  her  part,  and  that  the  young  fellow  had.  never  had 
the  slightest  fancy  for  her.  However,  that  was  the  one 
romance  of  her  life,  and  she  has  clung  to  it  like  a  limpet  to 
a  rock.  At  any  rate  when  we  asked  her  to  be  your  godmother 
she  said  she  would  be  so  if  we  would  give  you  the  name  of 
Nathaniel.  I  own  it  is  not  a  name  that  I  like  myself;  but 
when  we  raised  an  objection,  she  said  that  the  name  was 
very  dear  to  her,  and  that  if  you  took  it  she  would  certainly 
make  you  her  heir,  and  more  than  hinted  that  if  you  had  any 
other  name  she  would  leave  her  money  to  charitable  purposes. 
Well,  you  see,  as  she  is  worth  thirty  thousand  pounds  if  she  is 
worth  a  penny,  your  mother  and  I  both  thought  it  would  be 
folly  to  allow  the  money  to  go  out  of  the  family  for  the  sake 
of  a  name,  which  after  all  is  not  such  a  bad  name." 

"  I  think  it  beastly,  father,  in  the  first  place  because  it  is  long." 
"Well,  my  boy,  if  you  like  we  can  shorten  it  to  Nathan." 
"  Oh,  that  would    be  a   hundred  times  worse !      Nathan 


A  FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  3 

indeed !  Nat  is  not  so  bad.  If  I  had  been  christened  Nat  I 
should  not  have  particularly  minded  it.  Why  did  you  not 
propose  that  to  aunt?" 

His  father  shook  his  head.  "  That  would  never  have  done. 
To  her  he  was  always  Nathaniel.  Possibly  if  they  had  been 
married  it  might  some  day  have  become  Nat,  but,  you  see,  it 
never  got  to  that." 

"  Well,  of  course,  father,"  the  boy  said  with  a  sigh,  "  as  the 
thing  is  done  it  cannot  be  helped.  And  I  don't  say  that  aunt 
is  n't  a  good  sort  —  first-rate  in  some  things,  for  she  has  always 
tipped  me  well  whenever  she  came  here,  and  she  says  she  is 
going  to  allow  me  fifty  pounds  a  year  directly  I  get  my  ap- 
pointment as  midshipman ;  but  it  is  certainly  hard  on  me  that 
she  could  not  have  fallen  in  love  with  some  man  with  a  decent 
name.  Nathaniel  is  always  getting  me  into  rows.  Why,  the 
first  two  or  three  years  I  went  to  school  I  should  say  that  I 
had  a  fight  over  it  once  a  month.  Of  course  I  have  not  had 
one  lately,  for  since  I  licked  Smith  major  fellows  are  more 
careful.  I  expect  it  will  be  just  as  bad  in  the  navy." 

So  when  he  first  joined  Nat  had  found  it,  but  now  that  he 
was  nearly  sixteen,  and  very  strong  and  active,  and  with 
the  experience  of  many  past  combats,  the  name  Nathaniel 
had  been  dropped.  It  was  six  months  since  the  obnoxious 
Christian  name  had  been  used,  as  it  was  now  by  a  young 
fellow  of  seventeen  who  had  been  transferred  to  the  Orpheus 
when  the  frigate  to  which  he  belonged  was  ordered  home.  He 
was  tall  and  lanky,  very  particular  about  his  dress,  spoke  in 
a  drawling  supercilious  way,  and  had  the  knack  of  saying 
unpleasant  things  with  an  air  of  innocence.  Supposing  that 
Glover's  name  must  be  Nathaniel,  he  had  thought  it  smart 
so  to  address  him,  but  although  he  guessed  that  it  might  irri- 
tate him,  he  was  unprepared  for  an  explosion  on  the  part  of  a 
lad  who  was  proverbially  good-tempered. 


4  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"Dear  me,"  he  said,  in  assumed  surprise,  "I  had  no  idea 
that  you  objected  so  much  to  be  called  by  your  proper  name  ! 
However,  I  will,  of  course,  in  future  use  the  abbreviation." 

"  You  had  better  call  me  Glover,"  Nat  replied  sharply.  "  My 
friends  can  call  me  Nat,  but  to  other  people  I  am  Glover,  and 
if  you  call  me  out  of  that  name  there  will  be  squalls ;  so  I  warn 
you." 

Curtis  thought  it  was  well  not  to  pursue  the  subject  further. 
He  was  no  coward,  but  he  had  the  sense  to  see  that  as  Nat 
was  a  favourite  with  the  others,  while  he  was  a  new-comer,  a 
fight,  even  if  he  were  the  victor,  would  not  conduce  to  his 
popularity  among  his  mess-mates.  The  president  of  the  mess, 
a  master's  mate,  a  good-tempered  fellow,  who  hated  quarrels, 
broke  what  would  have  been  an  awkward  silence  by  saying : 

"  We  seem  to  be  out  of  luck  altogether  this  trip ;  we  have 
been  out  three  weeks  and  not  fired  a  shot.  It  is  especially 
hard,  for  we  caught  sight  of  that  brigantine  we  have  been  in 
search  of,  and  should  have  had  her  if  she  had  n't  run  into  that 
channel  where  there  was  not  water  enough  for  us  to  follow  her." 

"  Yes,  that  was  rough  upon  us,  and  one  hates  to  go  back  to 
Port  Royal  without  a  prize,  after  having  taken  so  many  that 
we  have  come  to  be  considered  the  luckiest  ship  on  the  station," 
another  said.  "  Still,  the  cruise  is  not  over  yet.  I  suppose  by 
the  way  we  are  laying  our  course,  Marston,  we  are  going  into 
Cape  Frangois?" 

The  mate  nodded.  "Yes;  we  want  fresh  meat,  fruit,  and 
water,  and  it  is  about  the  pleasantest  place  among  these  islands. 
I  have  no  doubt,  too,  that  the  captain  hopes  to  get  some  news 
that  may  help  him  to  find  out  where  those  piratical  craft  that 
are  doing  so  much  mischief  have  their  rendezvous.  They  are 
all  so  fast  that  unless  in  a  strong  breeze  a  frigate  has  no 
chance  whatever  of  overhauling  them ;  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  are  all  of  Spanish  build,  and  in  a  light  breeze  they  sail 


A   FIGHT  WITH  A   BLOODHOUND  5 

like  witches.  I  believe  our  only  chance  of  catching  them  is 
in  finding  them  at  their  head-quarters,  wherever  that  may  be, 
or  by  coming  upon  them  in  a  calm  in  a  bay.  In  that  case  it 
would  be  a  boat  affair ;  and  a  pretty  sharp  one  I  should  think, 
for  they  all  carry  very  strong  crews  and  are  heavily  armed, 
and  as  the  scoundrels  know  that  they  fight  with  ropes  round 
their  necks  they  would  be  awkward  customers  to  tackle." 

"Yes,  if  we  happened  to  find  them  all  together,  I  don't 
think  the  captain  would  risk  sending  in  the  boats.  One  at  a 
time  we  could  manage,  but  with  three  of  them  mounting 
about  fifty  guns  between  them,  and  carrying,  I  should  say, 
from  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  the  odds 
would  be  very  great,  and  the  loss,  even  if  we  captured  them, 
so  heavy  that  I  hardly  think  the  captain  would  be  justified  in 
attempting  it.  I  should  say  that  he  would  be  more  likely  to 
get  out  all  the  boats  and  tow  the  frigate  into  easy  range.  She 
would  give  a  good  account  of  the  whole  of  them." 

"Yes,  there  is  no  doubt  about  that;  but  even  then  we 
should  only  succeed  if  the  bay  was  a  very  narrow  one,  for 
otherwise  their  boats  would  certainly  tow  them  faster  than 
we  could  take  the  frigate  along." 

It  was  Glover  who  spoke  last. 

"  I  don't  think  myself  that  we  shall  ever  catch  them  in  the 
frigate.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  only  chance  will  be  to  get 
hold  of  an  old  merchantman,  put  a  strong  crew  on  board  and 
a  dozen  of  our  guns,  and  cruise  about  until  one  of  them  gets  a 
sight  of  us  and  comes  skimming  along  to  capture  us." 

"  Yes,  that  would  be  a  good  plan ;  but  it  has  been  tried 
several  times  with  success,  and  I  fancy  the  pirates  would  not 
fall  into  the  trap.  Besides,  there  is  very  little  doubt  that 
they  have  friends  at  all  these  ports,  and  get  early  information 
of  any  movements  of  our  ships,  and  would  hear  of  what  we 
were  doing  long  before  the  disguised  ship  came  near  them.  It 


O  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

can  hardly  be  chance,  that  it  matters  not  which  way  we  cruise 
these  fellows  begin  their  work  in  another  direction  altogether. 
Now  that  we  are  here  in  this  great  bay,  they  are  probably 
cruising  off  the  west  of  Cuba  or  down  by  Porto  Rico  or  the 
Windward  Islands.  That  is  the  advantage  that  three  or  four 
craft  working  together  have :  they  are  able  to  keep  spies  in 
every  port  that  our  ships  of  war  are  likely  to  go  into,  while  a 
single  vessel  cannot  afford  such  expenses." 

"I  don't  think  that  the  expenses,  Low,  would  be  heavy; 
the  negroes  would  do  it  for  next  to  nothing,  and  so  would 
the  mulattoes,  simply  because  they  hate  the  whites.  I  don't 
mean  the  best  of  the  mulattoes,  because  many  of  them  are 
gentlemen  and  good  fellows;  but  the  lower  class  are  worse 
than  the  negroes,  they  are  up  to  any  devilment,  and  will  do 
anything  they  can  to  injure  a  white  man." 

"  Poor  beggars,  one  can  hardly  blame  them ;  they  are 
neither  one  thing  nor  the  other  !  These  old  French  planters 
are  as  aristocratic  as  their  noblesse  at  home,  and  indeed  many 
of  them  belong  to  noble  families.  Even  the  meanest  white 
—  and  they  are  pretty  mean  some  of  them  —  looks  down  upon 
a  mulatto,  although  the  latter  may  have  been  educated  in 
France  and  own  great  plantations.  The  negroes  don't  like 
them  because  of  their  strain  of  white  blood.  They  are  treated 
as  if  they  were  pariahs.  Their  children  may  not  go  to  school 
with  the  whites,  they  themselves  may  not  sit  down  in  a  theatre 
or  kneel  at  church  next  to  them,  they  may  not  use  the  same 
restaurants  or  hotels.  No  wonder  they  are  discontented." 

"It  is  hard  on  them,"  Glover  said,  "but  one  can't  be 
surprised  that  the  whites  do  fight  shy  of  them.  Great  num- 
bers of  them  are  brutes  and  no  mistake,  ready  for  any  crime 
and  up  to  any  wickedness.  There  is  lots  of  good  in  the 
niggers ;  they  are  merry  fellows  ;  and  I  must  say  for  these 
old  French  planters  they  use  their  slaves  a  great  deal  better 


A  FIGHT  WITH   A   BLOODHOUND  7 

than  they  are  as  a  rule  treated  by  our  planters  in  Jamaica. 
Of  course  there  are  bad  masters  everywhere,  but  if  I  were 
a  slave  I  would  certainly  rather  be  under  a  French  master 
than  an  English  one,  or,  from  what  I  have  heard,  than  an 
American." 

"Very  well,  Glover,  I  will  make  a  note  of  that,  and  if  you 
ever  misbehave  yourself  and  we  have  to  sell  you,  I  will  drop 
a  line  to  the  first  lufif  how  your  preference  lies." 

Early  the  next  morning  the  frigate  dropped  anchor  at 
Cape  Francois,  the  largest  and  most  important  town  in  the 
island,  with  the  exception  of  the  capital  of  the  Spanish  portion 
of  San  Domingo.  The  Orpheus  carried  six  midshipmen.  Four 
of  these  had  been  ashore  when  on  the  previous  occasion  the 
Orpheus  had  entered  the  port.  Nat  Glover  and  Curtis  were 
the  exceptions,  Curtis  having  at  that  time  belonged  to  the 
frigate  for  but  a  very  few  weeks,  and  Nat  having  been  in  the 
first  lieutenant's  bad  books,  owing  to  a  scrape  into  which  he 
had  got  at  the  last  port  they  had  touched  at.  After  break- 
fast they  went  up  together  to  the  first  lieutenant,  whose  name 
was  Hill. 

"  Please,  sir,  if  we  are  not  wanted,  can  we  have  leave  for 
the  day?" 

The  lieutenant  hesitated,  and  then  said  : 

"Yes,  I  think  the  other  four  will  be  enough  for  the  boats. 
You  did  not  go  ashore  last  time  you  were  here,  I  think,  Mr. 
Glover,"  he  added  with  a  slight  smile. 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Very  well,  then,  you  can  go,  but  don't  get  into  any  scrape." 

"  I  will  try  not  to,  sir,"  Nat  said  demurely. 

"Well,  I  hope  your  trial  will  be  successful,  Mr.  Glover,  for  if 
not,  I  can  tell  you  that  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  you  have 
leave  again.  These  people  don't  understand  that  sort  of  thing." 

"  He  is  a  nice  lad,"  Mr.  Hill  said  to  the  second  lieutenant 


8  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

as  the  two  midshipmen  walked  away,  "  and  when  he  has 
worked  off  those  animal  spirits  of  his  he  will  make  a  capital 
officer,  but  at  present  he  is  one  of  the  most  mischievous  young 
monkeys  I  ever  came  across." 

"  He  does  not  let  them  interfere  with  his  duty,"  the  other 
said.  "  He  is  the  smartest  of  our  raids ;  he  is  well  up  in  navi- 
gation, and  has  any  amount  of  pluck.  You  remember  how  he 
jumped  overboard  in  Port  Royal  when  a  marine  fell  into  the 
water,  although  the  harbour  was  swarming  with  sharks.  It 
was  a  near  touch.  Luckily  we  threw  a  bowline  to  him,  and 
the  two  were  hauled  up  together.  A  few  seconds  more  and  it 
would  have  been  too  late,  for  there  was  a  shark  within  twenty 
feet  of  them." 

"Yes,  there  is  no  doubt  about  his  pluck,  Playford,  and 
indeed  I  partly  owe  my  life  to  him.  When  we  captured  that 
piratical  brigantine  near  Santa  Lucia  I  boarded  by  the  stern, 
and  she  had  such  a  strong  crew  that  we  were  being  beaten 
back,  and  things  looked  very  bad  until  he  with  the  gig's  crew 
'  swarmed  in  over  the  bow.  Even  then  it  was  a  very  tough 
struggle  till  they  cut  their  way  through  the  pirates  and  joined 
us,  and  we  went  at  them  together,  and  that  youngster  fought 
like  a  young  fiend.  He  was  in  the  thick  of  it  everywhere, 
and  yet  he  was  as  cool  as  a  cucumber.  Oh  yes,  he  has  the 
making  of  a  very  fine  officer.  Although  I  am  obliged  to  be 
sharp  with  him,  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  harm  in  the  lad, 
but  he  certainly  has  a  genius  for  getting  into  scrapes." 

The  two  midshipmen  went  ashore  together.  "  I  don't  know 
what  you  are  going  to  do,  Curtis,  but  after  I  have  walked 
through  the  place  and  had  a  look  at  it,  I  shall  hire  a  horse 
and  ride  out  into  the  country." 

"  It  is  too  hot  for  riding,"  the  other  said.  "  Of  course  I 
shall  see  what  there  is  to  be  seen,  and  then  I  shall  look  for 
a  seat  in  some  place  in  the  shade  and  eat  fruit." 


A    FIGHT   WITH  A    BLOODHOUND  9 

"Well,  we  may  as  well  walk  through  the  town  together," 
Nat  said  cheerfully.  "From  the  look  of  the  place  I  should 
fancy  there  was  not  much  in  it,  and  I  know  the  fellows  who 
went  on  shore  before  said  that  the  town  contained  nothing 
but  native  huts,  a  few  churches,  and  two  or  three  dozen  old 
French  houses." 

Half  an  hour  indeed  sufficed  to  explore  the  place.  When 
they  separated  Nat  had  no  difficulty  in  hiring  a  horse.  He 
had  been  accustomed,  when  in  England,  to  ride  a  pony,  and 
was  therefore  at  home  in  the  saddle ;  he  proceeded  at  a 
leisurely  pace  along  the  road  across  the  flat  plain  that  sur- 
rounded Cape  Francois.  On  either  side  were  plantations, — 
sugar-cane  and  tobacco,  —  and  he  occasionally  passed  the 
abode  of  some  wealthy  planter,  surrounded  by  shady  trees 
and  gardens  gorgeous  with  tropical  plants  and  flowers.  He 
was  going  by  one  of  these,  half  a  mile  from  the  town,  when 
he  heard  a  loud  scream,  raised  evidently  by  a  woman  in 
extreme  pain  or  terror.  He  was  just  opposite  the  entrance, 
and,  springing  from  his  horse,  he  ran  in. 

On  the  ground,  twenty  yards  from  the  gate,  lay  a  girl.  A 
huge  hound  had  hold  of  her  shoulder,  and  was  shaking  her 
violently.  Nat  drew  his  dirk  and  gave  a  loud  shout  as  he 
rushed  forward.  The  hound  loosed  his  hold  of  the  girl  and 
turned  to  meet  him,  and,  springing  upon  him  with  a  savage 
growl,  threw  him  to  the  ground.  Nat  drove  his  dirk  into 
the  animal  as  he  fell,  and  threw  his  left  arm  across  his  throat 
to  prevent  the  dog  seizing  him  there.  A  moment  later  the 
hound  had  seized  it  with  a  grip  that  extracted  a  shout  of  pain 
from  the  midshipman.  As  he  again  buried  his  dirk  in  the 
hound's  side,  the  dog  shifted  his  hold  from  Nat's  forearm  to 
his  shoulder  and  shook  him  as  if  he  had  been  a  child. 

Nat  made  no  effort  to  free  himself,  for  he  knew  that 
were  he  to  uncover  his  throat  for  a  moment  the  dog  would 


10  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

seize  him  there.  Though  the  pain  was  terrible  he  continued 
to  deal  stroke  after  stroke  to  the  dog.  One  of  these  blows 
must  have  reached  the  heart,  for  suddenly  its  hold  relaxed 
and  it  rolled  over,  just  as  half  a  dozen  negroes  armed  with 
sticks  came  rushing  out  of  the  house.  Nat  tried  to  raise 
himself  on  his  right  arm,  but  the  pain  of  the  left  was  so  great 
that  he  leant  back  again  half-fainting.  Presently  he  felt 
himself  being  lifted  up  and  carried  along;  he  heard  a  lady's 
voice  giving  directions,  and  then  for  a  time  he  knew  no  more. 
When  he  came  to  himself  he  saw  the  ship's  doctor  leaning 
over  him. 

"What  is  the  matter,  doctor?"  he  asked. 

"You  are  badly  hurt,  lad,  and  must  lie  perfectly  quiet. 
Luckily  the  messenger  who  was  sent  to  fetch  a  doctor,  seeing 
Mr.  Curtis  and  me  walking  up  the  street,  ran  up  to  us  and 
said  that  a  young  officer  of  our  ship  was  hurt,  and  that  he 
was  sent  in  to  fetch  a  doctor.  He  had,  in  fact,  already  seen 
one,  and  was  in  the  act  of  returning  with  him  when  he  met 
us.  Of  course  I  introduced  myself  to  the  French  doctor  as 
we  came  along  together,  for  we  fortunately  got  hold  of  a 
trap  directly,  so  that  no  time  was  lost.  The  black  boy  who 
brought  the  message  told  me  that  you  and  a  young  lady  had 
been  bitten  by  a  great  hound  belonging  to  his  master,  and 
that  you  had  killed  it.  Now,  my  lad,  I  am  going  to  cut  off 
your  coat  and  look  at  your  wounds.  The  Frenchman  is 
attending  to  the  young  lady." 

"  Mind  how  you  touch  my  arm,  doctor !  it  is  broken  some- 
where between  the  elbow  and  the  wrist ;  I  heard  it  snap  when 
the  brute  seized  me.  It  threw  me  down,  and  I  put  my  arm 
across  over  my  throat,  so  as  to  prevent  it  from  getting  at  that. 
It  would  have  been  all  up  with  me  if  it  had  gripped  me 
there." 

"  That  it  would,  Glover.     I  saw  the  dog  lying  on  the  grass 


A   FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  11 

as  I  came  in.     It  is  a  big  bloodhound ;  and  your  presence  of 
mind  undoubtedly  saved  your  life." 

By  this  time  he  had  cut  the  jacket  and  shirt  up  to  the  neck. 
Nat  saw  his  lips  tighten  as  he  caught  sight  of  the  wound  on 
the  shoulder. 

It  is  a  bad  bite,  eh,  doctor  ?  " 

"  Yes,  it  has  mangled  the  flesh  badly.  The  dog  seems  to 
have  shifted  his  hold  several  times." 

"Yes,  doctor,  each  time  I  stabbed  him  he  gave  a  sort  of 
start,  and  then  caught  hold  again  and  shook  me  furiously. 
After  the  first  bite  I  did  not  seem  to  feel  any  pain.  I  suppose 
the  limb  was  numbed." 

"  Very  likely,  lad.  Now  I  must  first  of  all  see  what  damage 
was  done  to  the  forearm.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  hurt  you,  but  I 
will  be  as  gentle  as  I  can." 

Nat  clenched  his  teeth  and  pressed  his  lips  tightly  together. 
Not  a  sound  was  heard  as  the  examination  was  being  made, 
although  the  sweat  that  started  out  on  his  forehead  showed 
how  intense  was  the  pain. 

"  Both  bones  are  broken,"  the  surgeon  said  to  his  French 
colleague,  who  had  just  entered  the  room  and  came  up  to  the 
bedside.  "The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  extemporize  some 
splints,  and  of  course  we  shall  want  some  stuff  for  bandages." 

"I  will  get  them  made  at  once,"  the  doctor  replied. 
"Madame  Demaine  said  that  she  put  the  whole  house  at 
my  disposal." 

He  went  out,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned  with  some  thin 
slips  of  wood  eighteen  inches  long  and  a  number  of  strips  of 
sheeting  sewn  together. 

"  It  is  very  fortunate,"  the  surgeon  said,  "that  the  ends  of 
the  bone  have  kept  pretty  fairly  in  their  places  instead  of 
working  through  the  flesh,  which  they  might  very  well  have 
done. 


12  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Very  carefully  the  two  surgeons  bandaged  the  arm  from  the 
elbow  to  the  finger-tips. 

"  Now  for  the  shoulder,"  the  doctor  said. 

They  first  sponged  the  wounds  and  then  began  feeling  the 
bones  again,  giving  exquisite  pain  to  Nat.  Then  they  drew 
apart  and  consulted  for  two  or  three  minutes. 

"  This  is  a  much  worse  business  than  the  other,"  Dr.  Bemish 
said  when  he  returned  to  the  bedside;  "the  arm  is  broken 
near  the  shoulder,  the  collar-bone  is  broken  too,  and  the  flesh 
is  almost  in  a  pulp." 

"  Don't  say  I  must  lose  the  arm,  doctor,"  Nat  said. 

"  Well,  I  hope  not,  Glover,  but  I  can't  say  for  certain.  You 
see  I  am  speaking  frankly  to  you,  for  I  know  that  you  have 
pluck.  The  injury  to  the  collar-bone  is  not  in  itself  serious, 
but  the  other  is  a  comminuted  fracture." 

"  What  is  comminuted,  doctor  ?  " 

"It  means  that  the  bone  is  splintered,  lad.  Still,  there  is 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  heal  again;  you  have  a  strong 
constitution,  and  Nature  works  wonders." 

For  the  next  half-hour  the  two  surgeons  were  at  work  pick- 
ing out  the  fragments  of  bone,  getting  the  ends  together,  and 
bandaging  the  arm  and  shoulder.  Nat  fainted  under  the  pain 
within  the  first  few  minutes,  and  did  not  recover  until  the 
surgeons  had  completed  their  work.  Then  his  lips  were 
wetted  with  brandy  and  a  few  drops  of  brandy  and  water 
were  poured  down  his  throat.  In  a  minute  or  two  he  opened 
his  eyes. 

"It  is  all  over  now,  lad."  He  lay  for  sometime  without 
speaking,  and  then  whispered,  "How  is  the  girl?" 

"  Her  shoulder  is  broken,"  Dr.  Bemish  replied.  "  I  have 
not  seen  her;  but  the  doctor  says  that  it  is  a  comparatively 
simple  case." 

"  How  was  it  the  dog  came  to  bite  her?" 


A   FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  18 

"  She  was  a  stranger  to  it.  She  is  not  the  daughter  of  your 
hostess.  It  seems  her  father's  plantation  is  some  twelve  miles 
away;  he  drove  her  in  and  left  her  here  with  Madame 
Demaine,  who  is  his  sister,  while  he  went  into  town  on  busi- 
ness. Madame's  own  daughter  was  away,  and  the  girl  saun- 
tered down  into  the  garden,  when  the  hound,  not  knowing  her, 
sprang  upon  her,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  would  have 
killed  her  had  you  not  arrived." 

"  Are  you  going  to  take  me  on  board,  doctor  ?  " 

"  Not  at  present,  Glover ;  you  need  absolute  quiet,  and  if 
the  frigate  got  into  a  heavy  sea  it  might  undo  all  our  work, 
and  in  that  case  there  would  be  little  hope  of  saving  your 
arm.  Madame  Demaine  told  the  French  doctor  that  she 
would  nurse  you  as  if  you  were  her  own  child,  and  that  every- 
thing was  to  be  done  to  make  you  comfortable.  The  house  is 
cool,  and  your  wound  will  have  a  much  better  chance  of  get- 
ting well  here  than  in  our  sick-bay.  She  wanted  to  come  in 
to  thank  you,  but  I  said  that,  now  we  had  dressed  your  arm, 
it  was  better  that  you  should  have  nothing  to  disturb  or  excite 
you.  When  the  girl's  father  returns  —  and  I  have  no  doubt 
he  will  do  so  soon,  for  as  yet,  though  half-a-dozen  boys  have 
been  sent  down  to  the  town,  they  have  not  been  able  to  find 
him  —  he  must  on  no  account  come  in  to  see  you  at  present. 
Here  is  a  tumbler  of  fresh  lime-juice  and  water.  Doctor  Lepel 
will  remain  here  all  night  and  see  that  you  have  everything  that 
you  require." 

The  tumbler  was  held  to  Nat's  lips,  and  he  drained  it  to  the 
bottom.  The  drink  was  iced,  and  seemed  to  him  the  most 
delicious  that  he  had  ever  tasted. 

"  I  shall  come  ashore  again  to  see  you  in  the  morning.  Dr. 
Lepel  will  go  back  with  me  now,  and  make  up  a  soothing 
draught  for  you  both.  Remember  that  above  all  things  it  is 
essential  for  you  to  lie  quiet.  He  will  put  bandages  round 


14  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

your  body,  and  fasten  the  ends  to  the  bedstead  so  as  to  pre- 
vent you  from  turning  in  your  sleep." 

"  All  right,  sir ;  I  can  assure  you  that  I  have  no  intention  of 
moving.  My  arm  does  not  hurt  me  much  now,  and  I  would 
not  set  it  off  aching  again  for  any  money." 

"  It  is  a  rum  thing,"  Nat  thought  to  himself,  "  that  I  should 
always  be  getting  into  some  scrape  or  other  when  I  go  ashore. 
This  is  the  worst  of  all  by  a  long  way." 

A  negro  girl  presently  came  in  noiselessly  and  placed  a  small 
table  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  bed.  She  then  brought 
in  a  large  jug  of  the  same  drink  that  Nat  had  before  taken, 
and  some  oranges  and  limes  both  peeled  and  cut  up  into  small 
pieces. 

"  It  is  lucky  it  was  not  the  right  arm,"  Nat  said  to  himself. 
"  I  suppose  one  can  do  without  the  left  pretty  well  when  one 
gets  accustomed  to  it,  though  it  would  be  rather  awkward 
going  aloft." 

In  an  hour  Dr.  Lepel  returned,  and  gave  him  the  draught. 

"  Now  try  and  go  to  sleep,"  he  said  in  broken  English.  "  I 
shall  lie  down  on  that  sofa,  and  if  you  wake  up  be  sure  and  call 
me.  I  am  a  light  sleeper." 

"  Had  you  not  better  stay  with  the  young  lady  ?  " 

"  She  will  have  her  mother  and  her  aunt  with  her,  so  she 
will  do  very  well.  I  hope  that  you  will  soon  go  to  sleep." 

It  was  but  a  few  minutes  before  Nat  dozed  off.  Beyond  a 
numbed  feeling  his  arm  was  not  hurting  him  very  much.  Once 
or  twice  during  the  night  he  woke  and  took  a  drink.  A  slight 
stir  in  the  room  aroused  him,  and  to  his  surprise  he  found  that 
the  sun  was  already  up.  The  doctor  was  feeling  his  pulse,  a 
negro  girl  was  fanning  him,  and  a  lady  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
bed  looking  at  him  pitifully. 

"  Do  you  speak  French,  monsieur?  "  she  asked. 

"  A  little,"  he  replied,  for  he  had  learned  French  while  at 


A    FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  15 

school,  and  since  the  frigate  had  been  among  the  West  Indian 
islands  he  had  studied  it  for  a  couple  of  hours  a  day,  as  it  was 
the  language  that  was  spoken  in  all  the  French  islands  and 
might  be  useful  to  him  if  put  in  charge  of  a  prize. 

"  Have  you  slept  well?"  she  asked. 

"Very  well." 

"Does  your  arm  hurt  you  very  much  now?" 

"  It  hurts  a  bit,  ma'am,  but  nothing  to  make  any  fuss 
about." 

"  You  must  ask  for  anything  that  you  want,"  she  said.  "  I 
have  told  off  two  of  my  negro  girls  to  wait  upon  you.  Of 
course  they  both  speak  French." 

Half  an  hour  later  Dr.  Bemish  arrived. 

"You  are  going  on  very  well,  Glover,"  he  said  after  feeling 
the  lad's  pulse  and  putting  his  hand  on  his  forehead.  "  At 
present  you  have  no  fever.  You  cannot  expect  to  get  through 
without  some,  but  I  hardly  expected  to  find  you  so  comfortable 
this  morning.  The  captain  told  me  to  say  that  he  would  come 
and  see  you  to-day,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  not  one 
among  your  mess-mates  who  is  not  deeply  sorry  at  what  has 
happened,  although  they  all  feel  proud  of  your  pluck  in  fighting 
that  great  hound  with  nothing  but  a  dirk." 

"  They  are  useless  sort  of  things,  doctor,  and  I  cannot  think 
why  they  give  them  to  us ;  but  it  was  a  far  better  weapon 
yesterday  than  a  sword  would  have  been." 

"  Yes,  it  was.     The  room  is  nice  and  cool,  is  n't  it  ? " 

"  Wonderfully  cool,  sir.  I  was  wondering  about  it  before 
you  came  in,  for  it  is  a  great  deal  cooler  than  it  is  on  board." 

"  There  are  four  great  pans  full  of  ice  in  the  room,  and  they 
have  got  up  matting  before  each  of  the  windows,  and  are  keep- 
ing it  soaked  with  water." 

"  That  is  very  good  of  them,  doctor.  Please  thank  Madame 
Demaine  for  me.  She  was  in  here  this  morning  —  at  least  I 


16  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

suppose  it  was  she  —  and  she  did  not  bother  me  with  thanks, 
which  was  a  great  comfort.  You  are  not  going  to  take  these 
bandages  off  and  put  them  on  again,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.  We  may  loosen  them  a  little  when  inflammation 
sets  in,  which  it  is  sure  to  do  sooner  or  later." 

Captain  Crosbie  came  to  see  Nat  that  afternoon. 

"  Well,  my  lad,"  he  said  cheerfully,  "  I  see  that  you  have 
fallen  into  good  hands,  and  I  am  sure  that  everything  that  is 
possible  will  be  done  for  you.  I  was  talking  to  the  girl's 
mother  and  aunt  before  I  came  in.  Their  gratitude  to  you  is 
quite  touching,  and  they  are  lamenting  that  Dr.  Bemish  has 
given  the  strictest  orders  that  they  are  not  to  say  anything  more 
about  it.  And  now  I  must  not  stay  and  talk ;  the  doctor  gave 
me  only  two  minutes  to  be  in  the  room  with  you.  I  don't 
know  whether  the  frigate  is  likely  to  put  in  here  again  soon,  but 
I  will  take  care  to  let  you  know  from  time  to  time  what  we  are 
doing  and  where  we  are  likely  to  be,  so  that  you  can  rejoin 
when  the  doctor  here  gives  you  leave  ;  but  mind,  you  are  not 
to  dream  of  attempting  it  until  he  does  so,  and  you  must  be  a 
discontented  spirit  indeed  if  you  are  not  willing  to  stay  for  a 
time  in  such  surroundings.  Good-bye,  lad  !  I  sincerely  trust 
that  it  will  not  be  very  long  before  you  rejoin  us,  and  I  can 
assure  you  of  a  hearty  welcome  from  officers  and  men." 

Three  days  later,  fever  set  in,  but,  thanks  to  the  coolness  of 
the  room  and  to  the  bandages  being  constantly  moistened  with 
iced  water,  it  passed  away  in  the  course  of  a  week.  For  two  or 
three  days  Nat  was  light-headed,  but  he  woke  one  morning 
feeling  strangely  weak.  It  was  some  minutes  before  he  could 
remember  where  he  was  or  how  he  had  got  there,  but  a  sharp 
twinge  in  his  arm  brought  the  facts  home  to  him. 

"  Thank  God  that  you  are  better,  my  brave  boy,"  a  voice  said 
in  French,  as  a  cool  hand  was  placed  on  his  forehead ;  and 
turning  his  head  Nat  saw  a  lady  standing  by  his  bedside.  She 


A   FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  17 

was  not  the  one  whom  he  had  seen  before ;  tears  were  stream- 
ing down  her  cheeks,  and,  evidently  unable  to  speak,  she  hur- 
ried from  the  room,  and  a  minute  later  Doctor  Lepel  entered. 

"  Madame  Duchesne  has  given  me  the  good  news  that  you 
are  better,"  he  said.  "I  had  just  driven  up  to  the  door  when 
she  ran  down." 

"  Have  I  been  very  bad,  doctor?" 

"  Well,  you  have  been  pretty  bad,  my  lad,  and  have  been 
light-headed  for  the  past  three  or  four  days,  and  I  did  not  for 
a  moment  expect  that  you  would  come  round  so  soon.  You 
must  have  a  magnificent  constitution,  for  most  men,  even  if 
they  recovered  at  all  from  such  terrible  wounds  as  you  have 
had,  would  probably  have  been  three  or  four  times  as  long 
before  the  fever  had  run  its  course. 

"  And  how  is  the  young  lady  ?  " 

"  She  is  going  on  well,  and  I  intended  to  give  permission  for 
her  to  be  carried  home  in  a  hammock  to-day,  but  when  I  spoke 
of  it  yesterday  to  her  mother,  she  said  that  nothing  would  induce 
her  to  go  until  you  were  out  of  danger.  She  or  Madame 
Demaine  have  not  left  your  bedside  for  the  past  week,  and  next 
to  your  own  good  constitution  you  owe  your  rapid  recovery  to 
their  care.  I  have  no  doubt  that  she  will  go  home  now,  and 
you  are  to  be  moved  to  Monsieur  Duchesne's  house  as  soon  as 
you  are  strong  enough.  It  lies  up  among  the  hills,  and  the 
change  and  cooler  air  will  do  you  good." 

"  I  have  not  felt  it  hot  here,  doctor,  thanks  to  the  care  that 
they  have  taken  in  keeping  the  roorii  cool.  I  hope  now  that 
there  is  no  fear  of  my  losing  my  arm  ? " 

"  No  ;  I  think  that  I  can  promise  you  that.  In  a  day  or  two 
I  shall  re-bandage  it,  and  I  shall  then  be  able  to  see  how  the 
wounds  are  getting  on ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
are  doing  well,  or  you  would  never  have  shaken  off  the  fever  so 
soon  as  you  have  done." 

2 


18  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Of  course  the  Orpheus  has  sailed,  doctor  ? " 

"  Yes.  She  put  to  sea  a  week  ago.  I  have  a  letter  here  that 
the  captain  gave  me  to  hand  to  you  when  you  were  fit  to  read 
it.  I  should  not  open  it  now  if  I  were  you.  You  are  very 
weak,  and  sleep  is  the  best  medicine  for  you.  Now,  drink  a 
little  of  this  fresh  lime-juice.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  will 
doze  off  again." 

Almost  before  the  door  closed  on  the  doctor  Nat  was  asleep. 
A  fortnight  later  he  was  able  to  get  up  and  sit  in  an  easy- 
chair. 

"How  long  shall  I  have  to  keep  these  bandages  on, 
doctor?" 

"  I  should  say  in  another  fortnight  or  so  you  might  take  them 
off  the  forearm,  for  the  bones  seem  to  have  knit  there,  but  it 
would  be  better  that  you  should  wear  them  for  another  month 
or  six  weeks.  There  would  indeed  be  no  use  in  taking  them 
off  earlier,  for  the  bandages  on  the  shoulder  and  the  fracture 
below  it  cannot  be  removed  for  some  time,  and  you  will  have  to 
carry  your  arm  in  a  sling  for  another  three  months.  I  do  not 
mean  that  you  may  not  move  your  arm  before  that,  indeed  it  is 
desirable  that  you  should  do  so,  but  the  action  must  be 
quiet  and  simple,  and  done  methodically,  and  the  sling  will  be 
necessary  at  other  times  to  prevent  sudden  jerks." 

"  But  I  shall  be  able  to  go  away  and  join  my  ship  before 
that,  surely?" 

"  Yes,  if  the  arm  goes  on  as  well  as  at  present  you  may  be 
able  to  do  so  in  a  month's  time  ;  only  you  will  have  to  be 
very  careful.  You  must  remember  that  a  fall,  or  even  a  lurch 
against  the  rail,  or  a  slip  in  going  down  below,  or  anything  of 
that  kind,  might  very  well  undo  our  work,  for  it  must  be 
some  time  before  the  newly-formed  bone  is  as  strong  as  the 
old.  As  I  told  you  the  other  day,  your  arm  will  be  some  two 
inches  shorter  than  it  was." 


A    FIGHT   WITH   A    BLOODHOUND  19 

"  That  won't  matter  a  rap,"  Nat  said. 

That  afternoon  Nat  had  to  submit  to  what  he  had  dreaded. 
The  doctor  had  pronounced  that  he  was  now  quite  convalescent, 
and  that  there  was  no  fear  whatever  of  a  relapse,  and  Monsieur 
and  Madame  Duchesne  therefore  came  over  to  see  him.  He 
had  seen  the  latter  but  once,  and  then  only  for  a  minute,  for 
she  found  herself  unable  to  observe  the  condition  on  which 
alone  the  doctor  had  allowed  her  to  enter,  namely,  to  repress 
all  emotion.  Madame  Demaine  came  in  with  them.  Since 
her  niece  had  been  taken  away,  she  had  spent  much  of  her 
time  in  Nat's  room,  talking  quietly  to  him  about  his  English 
home  or  his  ship,  and  sometimes  reading  aloud  to  him,  but 
studiously  avoiding  any  allusion  to  the  accident.  Monsieur 
Duchesne  was  a  man  of  some  thirty-five  years  of  age,  his  wife 
was  about  five  years  younger,  and  they  were  an  exceptionally 
handsome  couple  of  the  best  French  type.  Madame  Duchesne 
pressed  forward  before  the  others,  and  to  Nat's  embarrassment 
bent  over  him  and  kissed  him. 

"  You  cannot  tell  how  we  have  longed  for  this  time  to  come," 
she  said.  "  It  seemed  so  cold  and  ungrateful  that  for  a  whole 
month  we  should  have  said  no  word  of  thanks  to  you  for  saving 
our  darling's  life,  but  the  doctor  would  not  allow  it.  He  said 
that  the  smallest  excitement  might  bring  on  the  fever  again, 
so  we  have  been  obliged  to  abstain.  Now  he  has  given  us  leave 
to  come,  and  now  we  have  come,  what  can  we  say  to  you  ?  Ah, 
monsieur,  it  was  our  only  child  that  you  saved,  the  joy  of  our 
lives  !  Think  of  the  grief  into  which  we  should  have  been 
plunged  by  her  loss,  and  you  can  then  imagine  the  depth  of 
our  gratitude  to  you." 

While  she  was  speaking  her  husband  had  taken  Nat's  right 
hand  and  pressed  it  silently.  There  were  tears  in  his  eyes,  and 
his  lips  quivered  with  emotion. 

"Pray  do  not  say  anything  more  about  it,  madam,"  Nat 


20  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

said.  "  Of  course  I  am  very  glad  to  have  saved  your  daughter's 
life,  but  anyone  else  would  have  done  the  same.  You  don't 
suppose  that  anyone  could  stand  by  and  see  a  girl  mauled  by 
a  dog  without  rushing  forward  to  save  her,  even  if  he  had  had 
no  arm  of  any  kind,  while  I  had  my  dirk,  which  was  about  as 
good  a  weapon  for  that  sort  of  thing  as  one  could  want.  Why, 
Harpur,  our  youngest  middy,  who  is  only  fourteen,  would 
have  done  it.  Of  course  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  pain,  but 
I  would  have  borne  twice  as  much  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure 
I  feel  in  having  saved  your  daughter's  life,  and  I  am  sure  that  I 
have  had  a  very  nice  time  of  it  since  I  have  begun  to  get 
better.  Madame  Demaine  has  been  awfully  good  to  me.  If 
she  had  been  my  own  mother  she  could  not  have  been  kinder. 
I  felt  quite  ashamed  of  being  so  much  trouble  to  her,  and  of 
being  fanned  and  petted  as  if  I  had  been  a  sick  girl.  And  how 
is  your  daughter  getting  on  ?  The  doctor  gave  me  a  very  good 
account  of  her,  but  you  know  one  can't  always  quite  believe 
doctors ;  they  like  to  say  pleasant  things  to  you  so  as  not  to 
upset  you." 

"  She  is  getting  on  very  well  indeed.  Of  course  she  has  her 
arm  in  a  sling  still,  but  she  is  going  about  the  house,  and  is 
quite  merry  and  bright  again.  She  wanted  to  come  over  with 
us  to-day,  but  Dr.  Lepel  would  not  have  it.  He  said  that  a 
sudden  jolt  over  a  stone  might  do  a  good  deal  of  mischief. 
However,  it  will  not  be  long  before  she  sees  you,  for  we  have  got 
leave  to  have  you  carried  over  early  next  week." 


REJOINED  21 

CHAPTER  II 

REJOINED 

FOUR  days  later  Monsieur  Duchesne  came  down  with  six 
negroes  and  a  cane  lounging  chair,  on  each  side  of  which 
a  long  pole  had  been  securely  lashed.  Nat's  room  was  on  the 
ground  floor,  and  with  wide  windows  opening  to  the  ground. 
The  chair  was  brought  in.  Nat  was  still  shaky  on  his  legs, 
but  he  was  able  to  get  from  the  bed  into  the  chair  without 
assistance. 

"  I  shall  come  over  to  see  you  to-morrow,"  Madame  Demaine 
said,  as  he  thanked  her  and  her  husband  for  their  great  kind- 
ness to  him,  "  and  I  hope  I  shall  find  that  the  journey  has  done 
you  no  harm." 

Four  of  the  negroes  took  the  ends  of  the  poles  and  raised 
them  onto  their  shoulders,  the  other  two  walked  behind  to  serve 
as  a  relay.  Monsieur  Duchesne  mounted  his  horse  and  took 
his  place  by  Nat's  side,  and  the  little  procession  started.  The 
motion  was  very  easy  and  gentle.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon 
when  they  started,  the  sun  was  near  the  horizon,  and  a  gentle 
breeze  from  the  sea  had  sprung  up.  In  half  an  hour  it  was 
dusk,  and  the  two  spare  negroes  lighted  torches  they  had 
brought  with  them,  and  now  walked  ahead  of  the  bearers.  It 
was  full  moon,  and  after  having  been  so  long  confined  in  a 
semi-darkened  room,  Nat  enjoyed  intensely  the  soft  air,  the 
dark  sky  spangled  with  stars,  and  the  rich  tropical  foliage 
showing  its  outlines  clearly  in  the  moonlight. 

Presently  Monsieur  Duchesne  said  : 

"  I  have  a  flask  of  brandy  and  water  with  me,  Mr.  Glover, 
in  case  you  should  feel  faint  or  exhausted." 

Nat  laughed. 


22  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Thank  you  for  thinking  of  it,  monsieur,  but  there  is  no 
fatigue  whatever  in  sitting  here,  and  I  have  enjoyed  my 
ride  intensely.  It  is  almost  worth  getting  hurt  in  order  to 
have  such  pleasure :  we  don't  get  such  nights  as  this  in 
England." 

"  But  you  have  fine  weather  sometimes,  surely  ?  "  Monsieur 
Duchesne  said. 

"  Oh  yes,  we  often  have  fine  weather,  but  there  are  not  many 
nights  in  the  year  when  one  can  sit  out-of-doors  after  dark  ! 
When  it  is  a  warm  night  there  are  sure  to  be  heavy  dews  ; 
besides,  the  stars  are  not  so  bright  with  us  as  they  are  here, 
nor  is  the  air  so  soft.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  don't  like  our 
climate  better;  we  never  have  it  so  desperately  hot  as  you  do, 
and  besides,  we  like  the  cold,  because  it  braces  one  up,  and 
even  the  rain  is  welcome  as  a  change,  occasionally.  Still,  I 
allow  that  as  far  as  nights  go  you  beat  us  hollow." 

The  road  presently  began  to  rise,  and  before  they  reached 
the  end  of  the  journey  they  were  high  above  the  plain.  As 
they  approached  the  house  the  negroes  broke  into  a  song,  and 
on  their  stopping  before  th«  wide  verandah  that  surrounded  the 
house,  Madame  Duchesne  and  her  daughter  were  standing  there 
to  greet  them  as  the  bearers  gently  lowered  the  chair  to  the 
ground.  The  girl  was  first  beside  it. 

"  Ah,  monsieur,"  she  exclaimed  as  she  took  his  hand,  "  how 
grateful  I  am  to  you  !  how  I  have  longed  to  see  you  !  for  I  have 
never  seen  you  yet ;  and  it  has  seemed  hard  to  me  that  while 
aunt  and  the  doctor  should  have  seen  you  so  often,  and  even 
mamma  should  have  seen  you  once,  I  should  never  have  seen 
you  at  all." 

"There  is  not  much  to  sT»e  in  me  at  the  best  of  times, 
mademoiselle,"  Nat  said  as  he  rose  to  his  feet,  "and  I  am 
almost  a  scarecrow  now.  I  wanted,  to  see  you,  too,  just  to  see 
what  you  were  like,  you  know." 


REJOINED  23 

He  took  the  arm  that  Monsieur  Duchesne  offered  him,  for 
although  he  could  have  walked  that  short  distance  unaided,  he 
did  not  know  the  ground,  and  might  have  stumbled  over 
something.  They  went  straight  from  the  verandah  into  a 
pretty  room  lighted  by  a  dozen  wax  candles.  He  sat  down 
in  a  chair  that  was  there  in  readiness  for  him.  The  girl  placed 
herself  in  front  of  him  and  looked  earnestly  at  him. 

"Well,"  he  said  with  a  laugh,  "am  I  at  all  like  what  you 
pictured  me?" 

"  You  are  not  a  scarecrow  at  all !  "  she  said  indignantly. 
"  Why  do  you  say  such  things  of  yourself  ?  Of  course  you 
are  thin,  very  thin,  but  even  now  you  look  nice.  I  think  you 
are  just  what  I  thought  you  would  be.  Now,  am  I  like  what 
you  thought  I  should  be  ? " 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  attempted  to  think  exactly  what 
you  would  be,"  Nat  said.  "  I  did  not  notice  your  face ;  I 
don't  even  know  whether  it  was  turned  my  way.  I  did  take 
in  that  you  were  a  girl  somewhere  about  thirteen  years  old, 
but  as  soon  as  the  dog  turned,  my  attention  was  pretty  fully 
occupied.  Madame  Demaine  said  your  name  was  Myra.  I 
thought  that  with  such  a  pretty  name  you  ought  to  be  pretty 
too.  I  suppose  it  is  rude  to  say  so,  but  you  certainly  are, 
mademoiselle." 

The  girl  laughed. 

"  It  is  not  rude  at  all ;  and  please  you  are  to  call  me  Myra 
and  not  mademoiselle.  Now,  you  must  get  strong  as  soon 
as  you  can.  Mamma  said  I  might  act  as  your  guide,  and 
show  you  about  the  plantation,  and  the  slave  houses,  and 
everywhere.  I  have  never  had  a  boy  friend,  and  I  should 
think  it  was  very  nice." 

"  My  dear,"  her  mother  said  with  a  smile,  "  it  is  not  alto- 
gether discreet  for  a  young  lady  to  talk  in  that  way." 

"  Ah !  but  I  am  not  a  young  lady  yet,  mamma,  and  I  think 


24  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

it  is  much  nicer  [to  be  a  girl  and  to  be  able  to  say  what  one 
likes.  And  you  are  an  officer,  Monsieur  Glover ! " 

"Well,  if  I  am  to  call  you  Myra,  you  must  call  me  Nat. 
Monsieur  Glover  is  ridiculous." 

"  You  are  very  young  to  be  an  officer,"  the  girl  said. 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  an  officer  for  more  than  two  years,"  he 
said.  "  I  was  only  fourteen  when  I  joined,  and  I  am  nearly 
sixteen  now." 

"  And  have  you  been  in  battles  ?  " 

"  Not  in  a  regular  battle.  You  see  England  is  not  at  war 
now  with  anyone,  but  I  have  been  in  two  or  three  fights  with 
pirates  and  that  sort  of  thing." 

"And  now,  Myra,  you  must  not  talk  any  more,"  her  father 
said.  "  You  know  the  doctor  gave  strict  orders  that  he  was  to 
go  to  bed  as  soon  as  he  arrived  here." 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened  and  a  slave  girl  brought  in 
a  basin  of  strong  broth. 

"  Well,  you  may  stop  to  take  that." 

Nat  spent  a  delightful  month  at  Monsieur  Duchesne's 
plantation.  For  the  first  few  days  he  lay  in  a  hammock 
beneath  a  shady  tree,  then  he  began  to  walk,  at  first  only  for 
a  few  minutes,  but  every  day  his  strength  increased.  At  the 
end  of  a  fortnight  he  could  walk  half  a  mile,  and  by  the  time 
the  month  was  up  he  was  able  to  wander  about  with  Myra  all 
over  the  plantation.  Monsieur  Duchesne,  on  his  return  one 
day  from  town,  brought  a  letter  for  him.  It  was  from  the 
captain  himself: 

Dear  Mr.  Glover,  —  I  hope  you  are  getting  on  well,  and  are 
by  this  time  on  your  legs  again.  As  far  as  I  can  see,  we  are  not 
likely  to  be  at  Cape  Francois  again  for  some  time,  therefore,  when 
you  feel  quite  strong  enough,  you  had  better  take  passage  in  a  craft 
bound  for  Jamaica^  which  is  likely  to  be  our  head-quarters  for  some 


REJOINED  25 

time.  Of  course  if  we  are  away,  you  will  wait  till  our  return. 
I  have  spoken  to  a  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Cummings  —  his  planta- 
tion lies  high  up  among  the  hills  —  and  he  has  kindly  invited 
you  to  make  his  place  your  home  till  we  return,  and  it  will  be 
very  much  better  for  you  to  be  in  the  pure  air  up  there  than  in 
this  pestilential  place. 

Nat  would  have  started  the  next  day,  but  his  host  insisted 
upon  his  staying  for  another  week. 

"You  are  getting  on  so  well,"  M.  Duchesne  said,  "that  it 
would  be  folly  indeed  to  risk  throwing  yourself  back.  Every 
day  is  making  an  improvement  in  you,  and  a  week  will  make 
a  great  difference." 

At  the  end  of  that  week  the  planter,  seeing  that  Nat  was 
really  anxious  to  rejoin  his  ship,  brought  back  the  news  that  a 
vessel  in  port  would  sail  for  Port  Royal  in  two  days. 

"I  have  engaged  a  cabin  for  you,"  he  said,  "for  although 
we  shall  be  sorry  indeed  to  lose  you,  I  know  that  you  want  to 
be  off." 

"  It  is  not  that  I  want  to  be  off,  sir,  for  I  was  never  happier 
in  all  my  life,  but  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  go.  It  is  likely  enough 
that  the  ship  may  be  short  of  middies,  one  or  two  may  be  away 
in  prizes,  and  it  will  be  strange  if  no  one  falls  sick  while  they 
are  lying  in  Port  Royal.  It  would  be  ungrateful  indeed  if  I 
wanted  to  leave  you  when  you  are  all  so  wonderfully  kind  to 
me." 

M.  Duchesne  drove  Nat  down  to  the  port  the  next  morning. 
The  midshipman  as  he  left  the  house  felt  quite  unmanned,  for 
Myra  had  cried  undisguisedly,  and  Madame  Duchesne  was 
also  much  moved.  They  passed  M.  Demaine's  house  without 
stopping,  as  he  and  his  wife  had  spent  the  previous  evening  at 
the  Duchesnes',  and  had  there  said  good-bye  to  him. 

"  It  is  quite  time  that  I  was  out  of  this,"  Nat  said  to  himself 


26  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

as  he  leaned  on  the  rail  and  looked  back  at  the  port.  "  That 
sort  of  life  is  awfully  nice  for  a  time,  but  it  would  soon  make 
a  fellow  so  lazy  and  soft  that  he  would  be  of  no  use  on  board 
ship.  Of  course  it  was  all  right  for  a  bit,  but  since  I  began  to 
use  my  arm  a  little,  I  have  wanted  to  do  something.  Still,  it 
would  have  been  no  good  leaving  before,  for  my  arm  is  of  no 
real  use  yet,  and  the  doctor  said  that  I  ought  to  carry  it  in  a 
sling  for  at  least  another  month.  But  I  am  sure  I  ought  to 
feel  very  grateful  to  our  doctor  and  Lepel,  for  I  expect  I 
should  have  lost  it  altogether  if  they  had  n't  taken  such  pains 
with  it  at  first.  Well,  it  will  be  very  jolly  getting  back  again. 
I  only  hope  that  the  captain  won't  be  wanting  to  treat  me  as 
an  invalid." 

To  Nat's  delight  he  saw,  as  he  entered  Port  Royal,  the 
Orpheus  lying  there,  and  without  landing  he  hailed  a  boat 
and  went  on  board.  As  soon  as  he  was  made  out  there  was 
quite  a  commotion  on  board  the  frigate  among  the  sailors  on 
deck  and  at  the  side,  while  those  below  looked  out  of  the 
port-holes,  and  a  burst  of  cheering  rose  from  all  as  the  boat 
came  alongside.  As  he  came  up  on  to  the  deck  the  midship- 
men crowded  round,  shaking  him  by  the  hand ;  and  when  he 
went  to  the  quarter-deck  to  report  his  return,  the  lieutenants 
greeted  him  as  heartily.  The  captain  was  on  shore.  Nat 
was  confused  and  abashed  at  the  warmth  of  their  greeting. 

"  It  is  perfectly  ridiculous  ! "  he  said  almost  angrily,  as  he 
rejoined  the  midshipmen ;  "  as  if  there  was  anything  extraor- 
dinary in  a  fellow  fighting  a  dog ! " 

"  It  depends  upon  the  size  of  the  dog  and  the  size  of  the 
fellow,"  Needham,  the  senior  midshipman,  said,  "and  also 
how  he  got  into  the  fight." 

"The  fact  is,  Needham,  if  I  had  killed  the  dog  with  the 
first  stroke  of  my  dirk  nobody  would  have  thought  anything 
about  the  matter,  and  it  is  just  because  I  could  not  do  so,  and 


REJOINED  27 

therefore  got  badly  mauled  before  I  managed  it,  that  all  this 
fuss  is  made  !  It  would  have  been  much  more  to  the  point  if 
you  had  all  grumbled,  when  I  came  on  board,  at  my  being 
nursed  and  coddled,  while  you  had  to  do  my  duty  between 
you,  just  because  I  was  such  a  duffer  that  I  was  a  couple  of 
minutes  in  killing  the  dog  instead  of  managing  it  at  once." 

"  Well,  we  might  have  done  so  if  we  had  thought  of  it,  but, 
you  see,  we  did  not  look  at  it  in  that  light,  Nat,"  Needham 
laughed;  "there  is  certainly  a  good  deal  in  what  you  say. 
However,  I  shall  in  future  look  upon  my  dirk  as  being  of  more 
use  than  I  have  hitherto  thought ;  I  have  always  considered  it 
the  most  absurd  weapon  that  was  ever  put  into  anyone's  hand 
to  use  in  action.  Not,  of  course,  that  one  does  use  it,  for  one 
always  gets  hold  of  a  cutlass  when  there  is  fighting  to  be 
done.  How  anyone  can  ever  have  had  the  idea  of  making 
a  midshipman  carry  about  a  thing  little  better  than  a  pocket- 
knife,  and  how  they  have  kept  on  doing  so  for  years  and 
years,  is  most  astonishing !  For  the  lords  of  the  admiralty 
must  all  have  been  midshipmen  themselves  at  one  time,  and 
must  have  hated  the  beastly  things  just  as  much  as  we  do. 
If  they  think  a  full-sized  sword  too  heavy  for  us  —  which  it 
certainly  isn't  for  the  seniors  —  they  might  give  us  rapiers, 
which  are  no  weight  to  speak  of,  and  would  be  really  useful 
weapons  if  we  were  taught  to  use  them  properly. 

"Well,  we  won't  say  anything  more  about  your  affair, 
Nat,  if  you  don't  like  it  ;  but  we  sha'n't  think  any  the  less, 
because  we  are  all  proud  of  you,  and  whatever  you  may  say, 
it  was  a  very  plucky  action.  I  know  that  I  would  rather 
stand  up  against  the  biggest  Frenchman  than  face  one  of 
those  savage  hounds.  And  how  is  the  arm  going  on?  I  see 
you  still  have  the  arm  of  your  jacket  snipped  open  and  tied 
up  with  ribbons,  and  you  keep  it  in  a  sling." 

"Yes;  the  doctor  made  such  a  point  of  it  that  I  was 


28  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

obliged  to  promise  to  wear  it  until  Bemish  gives  me  permission 
to  lay  it  aside."  He  took  it  out  of  the  sling  and  moved  it 
about.  "  You  see  I  have  got  the  use  of  it,  though  I  own  I 
have  very  little  strength  as  yet;  still,  I  manage  to  use  it  at 
meals,  which  is  a  comfort.  It  was  hateful  being  obliged  to 
have  my  grub  cut  up  for  me.  How  long  have  you  been  in 
harbour  here?" 

"Three  days  ;  and  you  are  in  luck  to  find  us  here,  for  I  hear 
that  we  are  off  again  to-morrow  morning.  You  have  missed 
nothing  while  you  have  been  away,  for  we  have  n't  picked  up 
a  single  prize  beyond  a  little  slaver  with  a  hundred  niggers 
on  board." 

When  the  captain  came  off  two  hours  later  with  Dr.  Bemish 
he  sent  for  Nat. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  to  see  you  back  again,  Mr.  Glover,  and  to 
see  you  looking  so  vastly  better  than  when  I  saw  you  last ;  in 
fact,  you  look  nearly  as  well  as  you  did  before  that  encounter." 

"  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  eat,  sir." 

"  Well,  the  question  is,  how  is  your  arm  ?  " 

"It  is  not  very  strong  yet,  sir,  but  I  could  really  do  very 
well  without  this  sling." 

"Well,  you  see  I  have  to  decide  whether  you  had  better 
go  up  to  the  hills  until  we  return  from  our  next  cruise  or  take 
you  with  us." 

"  Please,  sir,  I  would  much  rather  go  with  you." 

"  Yes ;  it  is  not  a  question  of  what  you  like  best,  but  what 
the  doctor  thinks  best  for  you.  You  had  better  go  to  him  at 
once,  he  will  examine  your  arm  and  report  to  me,  and  of 
course  we  must  act  on  his  decision." 

Nat  went  straight  to  the  doctor. 

"Well,  you  are  looking  better  than  I  expected,"  the  latter 
said,  holding  the  lad  at  arm's-length  and  looking  him  up  and 
down ;  "  flesh  a  good  deal  more  flabby  than  it  used  to  be  — 


REJOINED  29 

want  of  exercise,  of  course,  and  the  result  of  being  looked  after 
by  women.  Now,  lad,  take  off  your  shirt  and  let  me  have  a 
regular  examination." 

He  moved  the  arm  in  different  directions,  felt  very  carefully 
along  each  bone,  pressing  rather  hard  at  the  points  where 
these  had  been  broken,  and  asking  Nat  if  it  hurt  him.  He 
replied  "  No "  without  hesitation,  as  long  as  the  doctor  was 
feeling  the  forearm,  but  when  he  came  to  the  upper-arm  and 
shoulder  he  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  the  pressure  gave 
him  a  bit  of  a  twinge. 

"  Yes,  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise,"  the  doctor  said ;  "  how- 
ever, there  is  no  doubt  we  made  a  pretty  good  job  of  it. 
Stretch  both  arms  out  in  front  of  you  and  bring  the  fingers 
together.  Yes,  that  is  just  what  I  expected,  it  is  some  two 
and  a  half  inches  shorter  than  the  other;  but  no  one  will  be 
likely  to  notice  it." 

"  Don't  you  think,  doctor,  that  I  can  go  to  sea  now  ?  The 
captain  said  that  you  would  have  to  decide." 

"  I  think  a  month  up  in  the  hills  would  be  a  very  desirable 
thing,  Glover.  The  bones  have  knit  very  well,  but  it  would 
not  take  much  to  break  them  again." 

"  I  have  had  quite  enough  of  plantations  for  the  present, 
doctor,  and  I  do  think  that  sea  air  would  do  me  more  good 
than  anything.  I  am  sure  I  feel  better  already  for  the  run 
from  Cape  Francois  here." 

The  doctor  smiled.  "  Well,  you  see,  if  you  did  remain  on 
board  you  would  be  out  of  everything.  You  certainly  would 
not  be  fit  for  boat  service,  you  must  see  that  yourself." 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  do,  sir ;  one  fights  with  one's  right  arm 
and  not  with  one's  left." 

"That  is  so,  lad,  but  you  might  get  hit  on  the  left  arm  as 
well  as  the  right.  Besides,  even  on  board,  you  might  get  hurt 
while  skylarking." 


O  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  I  would  indeed  be  most  careful,  doctor." 

"Well,  we  will  see  about  it,  and  talk  it  over  with  the 
captain." 

All  that  evening  Nat  was  in  a  state  of  alarm  whenever 
anyone  came  with  a  message  to  any  of  his  mess-mates;  but 
when  it  was  almost  the  hour  for  lights  out  he  turned  into  his 
hammock  with  great  satisfaction,  feeling  sure  that  if  it  had 
been  decided  that  he  must  go  ashore  next  morning  a  message 
to  that  effect  would  have  been  sent  to  him.  The  sound  of  the 
boatswain's  whistle,  followed  by  the  call  "  All  hands  to  make 
sail ! "  settled  the  question.  He  had  already  dressed  himself 
with  Needham's  assistance,  but  had  remained  below  lest,  if  the 
captain's  eye  fell  on  him,  he  might  be  sent  ashore.  As  soon, 
however,  as  he  heard  the  order  he  felt  sure  that  all  was  right, 
and  went  up  on  deck.  Here  he  took  up  his  usual  station, 
passing  orders  forward  and  watching  the  men  at  work,  until 
the  vessel  was  under  sail.  The  want  of  success  on  the  last 
cruise  made  all  hands  even  keener  than  usual  to  pick  up  some- 
thing worth  capturing. 

"  I  suppose  there  is  no  clue  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  those 
three  pirates,"  he  said  to  Needham  as  the  latter,  after  the 
vessel  was  fairly  under  weigh,  joined  him. 

"  No ;  twice  we  had  information  from  the  captains  of  small 
craft  that  they  had  seen  suspicious  sail  in  the  distance,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  niggers  had  been  either  bribed  or 
frightened  into  telling  us  the  story,  for  in  each  case,  though 
we  remained  a  fortnight  cruising  about,  we  have  never  caught 
sight  of  a  suspicious  sail.  When  we  returned  here  we  found  to 
our  disgust  that  they  must  have  been  at  work  hundreds  of 
miles  away,  as  several  ships  were  missing,  and  one  that  came 
in  had  been  hotly  chased  by  them,  but  being  a  fast  sailer 
escaped  by  the  skin  of  her  teeth.  That  is  the  worst  of  these 
negroes,  one  can  never  believe  them,  and  I  think  the  best  way 


REJOINED  31 

would  be  when  anyone  came  and  told  a  yarn,  to  go  and  cruise 
exactly  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  he  tells  us 
he  has  seen  the  pirates." 

"  It  is  a  pity  we  cannot  punish  some  of  these  fellows  who 
give  false  news,"  Nat  said. 

"  Yes ;  but  the  difficulty  is  proving  that  it  is  false.  In  the 
first  place,  one  of  these  native  craft  is  so  much  like  another 
that  one  would  not  recognize  it  again;  besides,  you  may  be 
sure  that  the  rascals  would  give  Port  Royal  a  wide  berth  for 
a  time.  On  our  last  cruise  we  did  take  with  us  the  negro  who 
brought  the  news,  but  that  made  the  case  no  better.  He  pre- 
tended, of  course,  to  be  as  anxious  as  anyone  that  the  pirates 
should  be  caught,  and  as  he  stuck  to  his  story  that  he  had 
seen  a  rakish  schooner  where  he  said  he  did,  there  was  no 
proof  that  he  was  lying,  and  he  pretended  to  be  terribly  cut 
up  at  not  getting  the  reward  promised  him  if  he  came  across 
them. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  was  lying,  but  there  was  no  way 
of  proving  it.  You  see,  the  idea  of  getting  hold  of  a  trader 
and  fitting  her  up  with  a  few  guns  and  some  men  is  all  well 
enough  when  you  have  only  got  to  deal  with  a  single  schooner 
or  brigantine,  but  it  would  be  catching  a  tartar  if  these  three 
scoundrels  were  to  come  upon  her  at  once.  Of  course  they  are 
all  heavily  armed  and  carry  any  number  of  men,  nothing  short 
of  the  frigate  herself  would  be  a  match  for  them.  And  one 
thing  is  certain,  we  can't  disguise  her  to  look  like  a  merchant- 
man. Do  what  we  would,  the  veriest  landlubber  would  make 
her  out  to  be  what  she  is,  and  you  may  be  sure  the  pirates 
would  know  her  to  be  a  ship  of  war  as  soon  as  they  got  a  sight 
of  her  topsails." 

"  You  have  not  heard,  I  suppose,  where  our  cruising  ground 
is  going  to  be  this  time  ?  "  Nat  asked. 

"  No,  and  I  don't  suppose  we  shall  know  for  a  few  hours. 


32  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

You  may  be  sure  that  whatever  course  we  take  now  will  not 
be  our  real  course,  for  I  bet  odds  that  after  dark  some  fast 
little  craft  will  sneak  out  of  harbour  to  take  the  pirates  news  as 
to-  the  course  we  are  following,  and  to  tell  them  that  we  have 
not  taken  a  negro  this  time  who  would  lead  us  a  dance  in  the 
wrong  direction.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  we  are  going  to 
search  the  islands  round  Cuba  for  a  change.  We  were  among 
the  bays  and  islets  up  north  on  our  last  cruise,  and  the  captain 
may  be  determined  to  try  fresh  ground." 

Needham's  guess  turned  out  to  be  correct,  for  after  darkness 
fell  the  ship's  course  was  changed,  and  her  head  laid  towards 
Cuba.  After  cruising  for  nearly  three  weeks  without  success, 
they  were  passing  along  the  coast  of  the  mainland,  when  Nat, 
who  had  now  given  up  his  sling,  went  aloft  with  his  telescope. 
Every  eye  on  deck  was  turned  towards  the  island,  but  their 
continued  failures  had  lessened  the  eagerness  with  which  they 
scanned  the  shore,  and,  as  there  was  no  sign  of  any  break  in  its 
outline,  it  was  more  from  habit  than  from  any  hope  of  seeing 
anything  that  they  looked  at  the  rugged  cliffs  that  rose  forty  or 
fifty  feet  perpendicularly  above  the  water's  edge,  and  at  the 
forest  stretching  up  the  hillsides  behind  them. 

"You  have  seen  nothing,  I  suppose,  Tom?"  he  asked  the 
sailor  stationed  in  the  main-top. 

"  Not  a  thing,  Mr.  Glover." 

Nat  continued  his  way  up,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  yard  of 
the  topsail.  Leaning  back  against  the  mast,  he  brought  his 
telescope  to  bear  upon  the  land,  and  for  half  an  hour  scanned 
every  rock  and  tree.  At  last  something  caught  his  eye. 

"  Come  up  here,  Tom,"  he  called  to  the  sailor  below.  "  Look 
there,  you  see  that  black  streak  on  the  face  of  the  cliff?" 

"  I  see  it,  yer  honour." 

"  Well,  look  above  the  first  line  of  trees  exactly  over  it :  is  n't 
that  a  pole  with  a  truck  on  the  top  of  it  ?  " 


REJOINED  33 

"  You  are  right,  sir !  you  are  right ! "  the  sailor  said,  as  he 
got  the  glass  to  bear  upon  the  object  Nat  had  indicated,  "  that 
is  the  upper  spar  of  a  vessel  of  some  sort,  sure  enough." 

"  On  deck  there  ! "  Nat  shouted. 

"What  is  it,  Mr.  Glover?"  the  first  lieutenant  answered. 

"  I  can  make  out  the  upper  spar  of  a  craft  in  among  the  trees 
over  there,  sir." 

"  You  are  sure  that  you  are  not  mistaken  ?  " 

"Quite  sure,  sir.  With  the  glass  I  can  make  out  the 
truck  quite  distinctly.  It  is  certainly  either  the  upper  spar 
of  a  craft  of  some  kind  or  a  flag-staff,  of  course  I  cannot  say 
which." 

The  first  lieutenant  himself  ran  up  the  ratlines  and  joined 
Nat.  The  breeze  was  very  light,  and  the  Orpheus  was  scarcely 
moving  through  the  water.  Nat  handed  his  telescope  to  Mr. 
Hill. 

"  There,  sir,  it  is  about  a  yard  to  the  west  of  that  black  streak 
on  the  rock." 

"  I  see  it,"  the  lieutenant  exclaimed  after  a  long  gaze  at  the 
shore.  "  You  are  right,  it  must  be,  as  you  say,  either  the  spar 
of  a  ship  or  a  flag-staff;  though  how  a  ship  could  get  in  there 
is  more  than  I  can  say.  There,  it  has  gone  now  ! " 

"  The  trees  were  rather  lower  at  the  point  where  we  saw  it, 
and  the  higher  trees  have  shut  it  in." 

He  descended  to  the  deck  followed  by  Nat. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  make  of  it,  Mr.  Hill  ? "  enquired  the 
captain,  who  had  come  out  of  his  cabin  on  hearing  Nat's  hail. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Glover  is  right,  sir,  and  that  it  is 
the  upper  spar  of  a  craft  of  some  kind,  unless  it  is  a  flag-staff 
on  shore,  and  it  is  hardly  the  sort  of  place  in  which  you  would 
expect  to  find  a  flag-staff.  It  is  a  marvel  Mr.  Glover  made  it 
out,  for  even  with  his  glass  I  had  a  great  difficulty  in  finding  it, 
though  he  gave  me  the  exact  bearing." 

3 


34  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  captain  said.  "  At  last  there 
seems  a  chance  of  our  picking  up  a  prize  this  cruise.  The 
question  is,  how  did  she  get  there?" 

"  I  am  pretty  sure  that  we  have  passed  no  opening,  sir.  I 
have  been  aloft  for  the  past  half-hour,  and  have  made  out  no 
break  in  the  rocks." 

"  That  is  quite  possible,"  the  captain  said,  "  and  yet  it  may 
be  there.  We  are  a  good  three-quarters  of  a  mile  off  the  shore, 
and  some  of  these  inlets  are  so  narrow,  and  the  rocks  so  much 
the  same  colour,  that  unless  one  knows  the  entrance  is  there, 
one  would  never  suspect  it.  At  any  rate  we  will  hold  on  as 
we  are  for  a  bit." 

The  hail  had  set  everyone  on  deck  on  the  qui  vive,  and  a 
dozen  telescopes  were  turned  upon  the  shore. 

"Unlikely  as  it  seems,  Mr.  Hill,"  the  captain  said,  after 
they  had  gone  on  half  a  mile  without  discovering  any  break 
in  the  line  of  rock,  "  I  am  afraid  that  it  must  have  been  a 
flag-staff  that  you  saw.  There  may  be  some  plantation  there, 
and  the  owner  may  have  had  one  put  up  in  the  front  of  his 
house.  However,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  lower  a  boat  and 
row  back  along  the  foot  of  the  cliff  for  a  mile  or  so,  and 
then  a  mile  ahead  of  us ;  if  there  is  an  opening  we  shall  be 
sure  to  find  it.  Tell  Mr.  Playford  to  take  the  gig ;  Mr.  Glover 
can  go  with  him  as  he  is  the  discoverer." 

The  boat  was  lowered  at  once,  and  as  soon  as  the  officers 
had  taken  their  place  the  six  men  who  composed  the  crew 
bent  their  backs  to  the  oars,  the  coxswain  making  for  a  point 
on  the  shore  about  a  mile  astern  of  the  frigate,  which  was 
lying  almost  becalmed.  The  men  had  taken  muskets  and 
cutlasses  with  them,  for  it  was  probable  enough  that  a  watch 
might  have  been  set  on  the  cliff,  and  that,  should  there  be  an 
inlet,  a  boat  might  be  lying  there  ready  to  pounce  out  upon 
them  as  soon  as  they  reached  it. 


REJOINED  35 

Every  eye  was  fixed  upon  the  boat  as  she  turned  and  rowed 
along  within  fifty  yards  of  the  foot  of  the  rocks. 

"  I  thought  I  could  not  have  been  so  blind  as  to  pass  the 
entrance  without  seeing  it,"  one  of  the  sailors  who  had  been 
on  watch  aloft  said,  in  a  tone  of  satisfaction.  "  Now,  I  don't 
mind  how  soon  the  boat  finds  a  gap." 

But  when  the  boat  had  paddled  on  for  another  mile  without 
a  pause,  a  look  of  doubt  and  dissatisfaction  showed  itself  on 
every  face. 

"  You  are  quite  sure,  Mr.  Hill,"  the  captain  asked,  "  that 
it  was  a  staff  of  some  kind  that  you  saw,  and  not,  perhaps,  the 
top  of  a  dead  tree  whose  bark  had  peeled  off?  " 

"  I  am  quite  certain,  sir.  It  was  too  straight  and  even  for 
rough  wood ;  and  I  made  out  a  truck  distinctly :  but  it  is 
certainly  strange  that  no  entrance  should  be  discovered.  I 
am  afraid  that  'tis  but  a  flag-staff  after  all." 

"  I  can  hardly  imagine  that,"  the  captain  said.  "  I  have 
often  seen  flag-staffs  in  front  of  plantation  houses,  but  never 
one  so  high  as  this  must  be  to  show  over  the  trees.  If  it  had 
been  nearer  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff  it  might  have  been  a  signal- 
post,  but  they  would  hardly  put  it  a  mile  back  from  the  edge 
of  the  cliff  and  bury  it  among  trees.  At  any  rate,  if  we  find 
no  entrance  I  will  send  a  landing-party  ashore  to  see  what  it 
really  is,  that  is  to  say  if  we  can  find  any  place  where  the 
cliff  can  be  scaled." 

"  What  is  it,  Mr.  Needham  ?  "  as  the  midshipman  came  up 
and  touched  his  hat. 

"  The  boat  is  rowing  in  to  shore,  sir." 

The  two  officers  went  to  the  side. 

"They  have  either  found  an  entrance  or  some  point  at 
which  the  rock  can  be  scaled  —  Ah,  there  they  go ! "  he 
went  on,  as  the  boat  disappeared  from  sight,  "though  from 
here  there  is  no  appearance  whatever  of  an  opening." 


36  A    ROVING   COMMISSION 

It  was  some  minutes  before  the  boat  again  appeared.  It 
was  at  once  headed  for  the  frigate. 

"  Mr.  Playford  has  news  for  us  of  some  sort,"  the  captain 
said,  "  the  men  are  rowing  hard."  In  a  few  minutes  the  boat 
came  alongside.  The  second  officer  ran  up  the  accommodation 
ladder. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Playford,  what  is  your  news  ?  " 

"  There  is  an  inlet,  sir,  though  if  we  had  not  been  close  in 
to  those  rocks  I  should  never  have  noticed  it.  It  runs  almost 
parallel  with  the  coast  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  I  thought  at 
first  that  it  ended  there,  but  it  makes  a  sharp  angle  to  the 
south-east,  and  continues  for  a  mile  or  so,  and  at  the  other 
end  there  is  a  large  schooner,  I  have  no  doubt  a  slaver.  I 
fancy  they  are  landing  the  slaves  now.  There  is  a  barracoon 
on  the  shore  and  some  storehouses." 

"  Did  they  see  you?" 

"  No,  sir ;  at  least  I  don't  think  so.  Directly  I  saw  that  the 
passage  was  going  to  make  a  turn,  I  went  close  in  to  the  rocks 
on  the  other  side,  and  brought  up  at  the  corner  where  I  could 
get  a  view  without  there  being  much  fear  of  our  being  seen, 
and  indeed  I  don't  think  that  it  would  have  been  possible 
to  make  us  out  unless  someone  had  been  watching  with  a 
glass." 

"  We  shall  soon  know  whether  they  saw  you,  Mr.  Playford. 
If  they  did  they  will  probably  set  all  hands  to  work  to  tow  the 
schooner  out,  for  though  there  is  not  wind  enough  to  give  us 
steerage-way,  these  slavers  will  slip  along  under  the  slightest 
breath.  They  can  hardly  have  made  the  frigate  out.  They 
probably  thought  the  hiding-place  so  secure  that  they  did  not 
even  put  a  watch  on  the  cliffs.  Of  course  if  there  was  anyone 
up  there  they  could  have  seen  the  boat  leave  our  side,  and 
would  have  watched  her  all  along. 

"  Did  you  see  any  place  at  which  the  cliff  could  be  climbed?" 


REJOINED  37 

"  No,  sir,  and  up  to  the  turn  the  rocks  are  just  as  steep 
inside  as  they  are  here,  but  beyond  that  the  inlet  widens  out 
a  good  deal  and  the  banks  slope  gradually,  and  a  landing 
could  be  effected  anywhere  there,  I  should  say." 

"  We  will  send  the  boats  in  as  soon  as  it  gets  dark,  Mr.  Hill. 
If  they  saw  us  coming  they  would  drive  off  the  slaves  into  the 
woods  before  we  could  get  there,  so  the  best  plan  will  be  to 
land  a  strong  party  at  the  bend,  so  that  they  can  get  down 
to  the  barracoon  at  the  same  time  that  the  others  board  the 
schooner.  No  doubt  this  is  a  regular  nest  of  slave-traders.  It 
has  long  been  suspected  that  there  was  some  depot  on  this  side 
of  the  island.  It  has  often  been  observed  that  slavers  when 
first  made  out  were  heading  in  this  direction,  and  more  than 
once  craft  that  were  chased,  and,  as  it  seemed,  certain  to  be 
caught  in  the  morning,  have  mysteriously  disappeared.  This 
hiding-place  accounts  for  it. 

"  You  did  not  ascertain  what  depth  of  water  there  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  Mr.  Playford  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,  I  sounded  right  across  with  the  boat's  grapnel; 
there  is  nowhere  more  than  two  and  a  half  fathoms,  but  it  is 
just  about  that  depth  right  across." 

"  Then  it  is  evident  that  we  cannot  take  the  frigate  in. 
What  is  the  width  at  the  mouth?" 

"  About  thirty  yards." 

An  hour  later  the  Orpheus  anchored  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  inlet,  which,  however,  was  still  invisible. 

"  I  think  that,  as  this  may  be  an  important  capture,  Mr. 
Hill,  it  would  be  as  well  for  you  to  go  in  charge  of  the  boats. 
Mr.  Playford  will  take  the  command  of  the  landing-party.  I 
should  say  that  twenty  marines,  under  Lieutenant  Boldero,  and 
as  many  blue-jackets,  would  be  ample  for  that.  He  had  better 
take  the  long-boat  and  one  of  the  gigs,  while  you  take  the 
launch,  the  pinnace,  and  the  other  gig.  If  they  have  made  us 


38  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

out,  we  may  expect  a  very  tough  resistance,  and  it  may  be  that, 
although  Mr.  Playford  saw  nothing  of  them,  they  may  have  a 
couple  of  batteries  higher  up." 

"  Likely  enough,  sir." 

"  You  had  better  let  the  landing-party  have  a  start  of  you, 
so  that  if  they  should  unmask  a  battery  on  the  side  on  which 
they  are,  they  can  rush  down  at  once  and  silence  it. 

"  Very  good,  sir." 

The  sun  was  now  approaching  the  horizon;  as  soon  as  it 
dipped  behind  it  the  boats  were  lowered,  and  the  sailors, 
who  had  already  made  all  preparations,  at  once  took  their 
places  in  them.  Needham  was  in  command  of  the  gig  that 
carried  a  portion  of  the  landing-party,  Nat  was  in  charge  of 
the  other  gig,  and  Low  was  in  charge  of  the  pinnace,  Mr.  Hill 
going  in  the  launch.  Nat  had  first  been  told  off  to  the  gig 
now  commanded  by  Needham,  but  the  captain  said  to  the  first 
lieutenant,  "  You  had  better  take  Glover  with  you,  Mr.  Hill, 
and  let  Needham  go  with  Mr.  Playford.  Scrambling  along  on 
the  shore  in  the  dark,  one  might  very  well  get  a  heavy  fall, 
and  it  is  as  well  that  Glover  should  not  risk  breaking  his  arm 
again." 


CHAPTER  III 

A   SLAVE  DEPOT 

NIGHT  fell  rapidly  as  soon  as  the  sun  had  set,  and  by  the 
time  the  boats  reached  the  mouth  of  the  inlet  it  was 
already  dark.  The  two  boats  under  the  second  officer  entered 
first,  rowed  up  the  inlet  to  the  bend,  and  landed  the  marines 
and  sailors  on  the  opposite  side;  the  boarding-party  lay  on 
their  oars  for  five  minutes  and  then  followed.  The  oars  were 
muffled,  and  the  men  ordered  to  row  as  noiselessly  as  they 


A  SLAVE  DEPOT  39 

could,  following  each  other  closely,  and  keeping  under  the  left 
bank.  They  were  about  half-way  up  when  the  word  "  Fire  ! " 
was  shouted  in  Spanish,  and  six  guns  were  simultaneously 
discharged.  Had  the  Spaniards  waited  a  few  seconds  longer, 
the  three  boats  would  all  have  been  in  line  with  the  guns. 
As  it  was,  a  storm  of  grape  sent  the  water  splashing  up  ahead 
of  the  pinnace,  which,  however,  received  the  contents  of  the 
gun  nearest  to  them.  It  was  aimed  a  little  low,  and  fortu- 
nately for  the  crew  the  shot  had  not  yet  begun  to  scatter,  and 
the  whole  charge  struck  the  boat  just  at  the  water-level,  knock- 
ing a  great  hole  in  her. 

"  We  are  sinking,  Mr.  Hill,"  Low  said.  u  Will  you  come 
alongside  and  pick  us  up  ?  " 

Although  the  launch  was  but  a  length  behind,  the  gunwale 
of  the  pinnace  was  nearly  level  with  the  water  as  she  came 
alongside.  Its  occupants  were  helped  on  board  the  launch, 
which  at  once  held  on  her  way.  Half  a  minute  later  six  guns 
were  fired  from  the  opposite  bank.  The  boats  were  so  close 
under  the  shore  that  their  position  could  not  be  made  out  with 
any  certainty.  Three  men  were  hit  by  the  grapeshot,  but 
beyond  this  there  were  no  casualties. 

"  Keep  in  as  much  as  you  dare,"  Mr.  Hill  said  to  the  cox- 
swain ;  "  the  battery  opposite  will  be  loaded  again  in  a  couple 
of  minutes,  but  as  long  as  we  keep  in  the  shadow  of  the  shore 
their  shooting  will  be  wild." 

The  battery,  indeed,  soon  began  to  fire  again,  irregularly, 
as  the  guns  were  loaded.  The  shot  tore  up  the  water  ahead 
and  astern  of  the  boats,  but  it  was  evident  that  those  at  the 
guns  could  not  make  out  their  precise  position.  Another  five 
minutes  and  the  boats  were  headed  for  the  schooner. 

"  You  board  at  the  bow,  Mr.  Glover,  I  will  make  for  her 
quarter.  Now,  lay  out,  lads,  as  hard  as  you  can,  the  sooner 
you  are  there  the  less  chance  you  have  of  being  hit." 


40  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

A  moment  later  a  great  clamour  arose  behind  them.  First 
came  a  British  cheer;  then  rapid  discharges  of  pistols  and 
muskets,  mingled  with  the  clash  of  cutlasses  and  swords;  a 
minute  or  two  later  this  ceased,  and  the  loud  cheer  of  the 
marines  and  seamen  told  those  in  the  boats  that  they  had 
carried  the  battery.  The  diversion  was  useful  to  the  boats. 
Until  now  the  slavers  had  been  ignorant  that  a  party  of 
foes  had  landed,  and  the  fact  that  a  barracoon  full  of  slaves, 
and  the  storehouses,  were  already  threatened,  caused  some- 
thing like  consternation  among  them.  The  consequence  was 
that  they  fired  hastily  and  without  taking  time  to  aim.  Before 
they  could  load  again  the  boats  were  alongside,  unchecked 
for  an  instant  by  the  musketry  fire  which  broke  out  from  the 
deck  of  the  schooner  as  soon  as  cannon  had  been  discharged. 

Boarding-nettings  had  been  run  up,  but  holes  were  soon 
chopped  in  these  by  the  sailors.  Headed  by  Nat,  the  crew 
of  the  gig  leapt  down  on  to  the  deck,  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  slaver's  crew  ran  aft  to  oppose  what  they  considered  the 
more  dangerous  attack  made  by  the  occupants  of  the  crowded 
launch.  The  defence  was  successfully  maintained  until  the 
crew  of  the  gig,  keeping  close  together  and  brushing  aside 
the  resistance  of  the  few  men  forward,  flung  themselves  upon 
the  main  body  of  the  slavers,  and  with  pistol  and  cutlass  hewed 
their  way  through  them  till  abreast  of  the  launch.  The  slavers 
attacked  them  furiously,  and  would  speedily  have  annihilated 
them,  but  the  crew  of  the  launch,  led  by  Mr.  Hill,  came 
swarming  over  the  bulwarks,  and,  taking  the  offensive,  drove 
the  slavers  forward,  where,  seeing  that  all  was  lost,  they 
sprang  overboard,  striking  out  for  the  shore  to  the  right. 

Severe  fighting  was  now  going  on  opposite  the  schooner, 
where  the  landing-party  were  evidently  attacking  the  barra- 
coon and  storehouses. 

"  To  the  boats,  men  ! "  Mr.  Hill  shouted,  "  our  fellows  are 


HEADED   BY    NAT,   THE    CREW    OF    THE    GIG    LEAPT    DOWN 
ON    TO   THE    DECK." 


A  SLAVE   DEPOT  41 

being  hard  pressed  on  shore ;  Mr.  Glover,  you  with  the  gig's 
crew  will  remain  in  charge  here." 

Indeed,  it  was  evident  that  the  resistance  on  shore  was 
much  more  obstinate  than  had  been  expected.  Nat  stood 
watching  the  boat.  Just  as  it  reached  the  shore  one  of  the 
sailors  shouted,  "  Look  out,  sir ! "  and  he  saw  a  big  mulatto 
rushing  at  him  with  uplifted  sword.  His  cutlass  was  still  in  his 
hand,  and  throwing  himself  on  guard  he  caught  the  blow  as  it 
fell  upon  it,  and  in  return  brought  his  cutlass  down  on  his 
opponent's  cheek.  With  a  howl  of  pain  the  man  sprang  at 
him,  but  Nat  leaped  aside,  and  his  cutlass  fell  on  the  right 
wrist  of  the  mulatto,  whose  sword  dropped  from  his  hand,  and, 
rushing  to  the  side,  he  threw  himself  overboard.  In  the  mean- 
time a  fierce  struggle  was  going  on  between  the  sailors  and 
seven  or  eight  of  the  slavers  who,  being  unable  to  swim,  had 
thrown  themselves  down  by  the  guns  and  shammed  death,  as 
had  Nat's  antagonist,  who  was  first  mate  of  the  schooner. 
The  fight  was  short  but  desperate,  and  one  by  one  the  slavers 
were  run  through  or  cut  down,  but  not  before  three  or  four  of 
the  sailors  had  received  severe  wounds. 

"  Get  a  lantern,  mate,"  one  of  these  growled,  "  and  see  that 
there  are  no  more  of  these  skulking  hounds  alive." 

The  sailors,  furious  at  what  they  considered  treachery, 
fetched  a  light  that  was  burning  in  the  captain's  cabin,  and 
without  mercy  ran  through  two  or  three  unwounded  men 
whom  they  found  hiding  among  the  fallen.  It  was  soon  clear 
that  the  reinforcement  that  had  landed  had  completely  turned 
the  tables.  Gradually  the  din  rolled  away  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  storehouses,  there  was  some  sharp  firing  as  the 
enemy  fled  towards  the  wood  behind,  and  then  all  was  quiet. 
Presently  there  was  a  shout  in  Mr.  Hill's  voice  from  the 
shore : 

"Schooner  ahoy!" 


42  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  Load  with  grape,  Mr.  Glover,  and  send  a  round  or  two 
occasionally  into  that  wood  behind  the  houses;  I  am  going 
to  leave  thirty  men  here  under  Mr.  Playford,  and  to  take  the 
rest  over  to  the  opposite  side  and  carry  the  battery  there." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir." 

And  as  the  guns  pointing  on  that  side  had  not  been  dis- 
charged, he  at  once  opened  fire  on  the  wood.  A  minute  later 
the  launch  and  gig  rowed  past  the  schooner  and  soon  reached 
the  opposite  side.  Ten  minutes  passed  without  any  sound  of 
conflict  being  heard,  and  Nat  had  no  doubt  that  the  battery 
had  been  found  deserted.  It  was  not  long  before  the  boats 
were  seen  returning.  They  rowed  this  time  to  the  schooner. 

"Mr.  Glover,"  the  first  lieutenant  said  as  he  reached  the 
deck,  "  do  you  lower  the  schooner's  cutter,  put  all  the  wounded 
on  board,  take  four  of  your  men  and  row  out  to  the  frigate 
and  report  to  the  captain  what  has  taken  place.  Tell  him  that 
Mr.  Playford  carried  the  battery  on  the  right  in  spite  of  the 
guns,  and  that  I  have  spiked  those  in  the  battery  on  the  left, 
which  I  found  deserted.  Say  that  we  have  had  a  sharp  fight  on 
shore  with  a  large  number  of  negroes  led  by  two  or  three 
white  men  and  some  mulattoes,  and  that  I  believe  there  must 
be  some  large  plantations  close  at  hand  whose  owners  are 
in  league  with  the  slavers.  You  can  say  that  we  found  a 
hundred  and  twenty  slaves  in  the  barracoon,  evidently  newly 
landed  from  the  schooner,  and  that  I  intend  to  find  the  plan- 
tations and  give  them  a  lesson  in  the  morning.  How  many 
wounded  have  you  here?" 

"There  are  fourteen  altogether,  sir;  ten  of  them  were 
wounded  in  the  first  attack,  and  four  have  been  wounded 
since  by  some  of  the  slavers  who  shammed  death." 

"There  are  eight  more  in  the  launch,  happily  we  have  only 
two  men  killed.  You  had  better  give  all  the  wounded  a  drink 


A  SLAVE   DEPOT  43 

of  water ;  I  have  a  flask,  and  I  dare  say  you  have  one  :  empty 
them  both  into  the  bucket." 

There  was  a  barrel  half  full  of  water  on  deck ;  a  bucketful 
of  this  was  drawn,  and  the  two  flasks  of  spirits  emptied  into  it, 
and  a  mug  of  the  mixture  given  to  each  of  the  wounded  men. 
They  were  then  assisted  down  into  the  schooner's  boat ;  four 
of  the  gig's  crew  took  their  places  in  it,  and  Nat,  taking  the 
tiller,  told  them  to  row  on. 

Half  an  hour  later  they  came  alongside  the  frigate.  A  sailor 
ran  down  the  ladder  with  a  lantern.  Nat  stepped  out  and 
mounted  to  the  deck.  The  captain  was  standing  at  the  gang- 
way. 

"  We  have  been  uneasy  about  you,  Mr.  Glover.  We  heard 
a  number  of  reports  of  heavier  guns  than  they  were  likely  to 
carry  on  board  a  slaver,  and  feared  that  they  came  from  shore 
batteries." 

"  Yes,  sir,  there  were  two  of  them  mounting  six  guns  each. 
Mr.  Playford,  with  the  landing-party,  captured  the  one  on  the 
eastern  side ;  Mr.  Hill,  after  the  schooner  was  taken  and  the 
enemy  on  shore  driven  off,  rowed  across  and  took  the  other, 
which  he  found  unoccupied. 

"What  is  the  loss?" 

"Only  two  killed,  sir,  but  there  are  twenty-two  wounded, 
two  or  three  of  them  by  musket-shots,  and  the  rest  cutlass 
wounds.  They  are  all  in  the  boat  below,  sir." 

A  party  was  at  once  sent  down  to  carry  up  such  of  the 
wounded  as  were  unable  to  walk.  As  soon  as  all  were  taken 
below,  and  the  surgeon  had  begun  his  work,  the  captain  asked 
Nat  to  give  him  a  full  account  of  the  proceedings. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  much  of  what  took  place  ashore,  sir,"  he 
said,  "  as  Mr.  Hill  left  me  in  charge  of  the  schooner.  After  we 
had  carried  her,  he  went  ashore  with  the  crews  of  the  launch 
and  pinnace  to  help  Mr.  Playford." 


44  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Tell  me  all  you  know  first" 

Nat  related  the  opening  of  the  two  batteries,  and  how  one 
had  been  almost  immediately  captured  by  Mr.  Playford. 

"  So  the  pinnace  was  sunk  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  the  enemy's  charge  struck  her  between  wind  and 
water,  and  she  went  down  at  once ;  her  crew  were  picked  up 
by  the  launch.  I  hear  that  none  of  them  were  injured." 
Then  he  told  how  they  had  kept  under  the  shelter  of  the  shore, 
and  thus  escaped  injury  from  the  other  battery,  and  how  the 
schooner  had  been  captured. 

"It  was  lucky  that  your  men  got  a  footing  forward,  Mr. 
Glover.  You  did  well  to  lead  them  aft  at  once,  and  thus  assist 
Mr.  Hill's  party  to  board." 

Nat  then  related  the  sudden  attack  by  the  slavers  who  had 
been  feigning  death. 

"  It  was  lucky  that  it  was  no  worse,"  the  captain  said.  "  No 
doubt  they  were  fellows  who  could  n't  swim,  and  if  there  had 
been  a  few  more  it  would  have  gone  hard  with  you.  And  now 
about  this  fight  on  shore ;  it  can  hardly  have  been  the  crew  of 
the  schooner,  for,  by  the  stout  resistance  they  offered,  they 
must  have  been  all  on  board." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Nat  then  gave  the  message  that  Mr.  Hill  had  sent 

"  No  doubt,  Mr.  Glover ;  I  dare  say  this  place  has  been  used 
by  slavers  for  years.  Probably  there  are  some  large  barracoons 
where  the  slaves  are  generally  housed,  and  planters  who 
want  them  either  come  or  send  from  all  parts  of  the  island. 
I  will  go  ashore  myself  early  to-morrow  morning.  There  is 
no  question  that  this  is  an  important  capture,  and  it  will  be  a 
great  thing  to  break  up  this  centre  of  the  slave-trade  altogether. 
Now  that  their  hiding-place  has  once  been  discovered,  they 
will  know  that  our  cruisers  will  keep  a  sharp  look-out  here, 
and  a  vessel  once  bottled  up  in  this  inlet  has  no  chance 


A  SLAVE  DEPOT  45 

whatever  of  escape.  You  can  go  with  me,  it  is  thanks  to  the 
sharpness  of  your  eyes  that  we  made  the  discovery." 

The  sun  had  not  yet  shown  above  the  eastern  horizon  when 
the  captain's  gig  passed  in  through  the  mouth  of  the  inlet,  and 
ten  minutes  later  rowed  alongside  the  wharf  in  front  of  the 
barracoon. 

"  There  is  another  wharf  farther  along,"  the  captain  said ; 
"  we  may  take  that  as  proof  that  there  are  often  two  of  these 
slavers  in  here  at  the  same  time.  Ah,  there  is  Mr.  Hill !  I 
congratulate  you  on  your  success,"  he  went  on,  as  the  first 
lieutenant  joined  him;  "there  is  no  doubt  that  this  has  been 
a  regular  rendezvous  for  the  scoundrels.  It  is  well  that  you 
attacked  after  dark,  for  the  cross  fire  of  those  batteries,  aided 
by  that  of  the  schooner,  would  have  knocked  the  boats  into 
matchwood." 

"  That  they  would  have  done,  sir.  I  was  very  glad  when 
I  saw  the  boat  coming,  as  I  thought  it  was  probable  that  you 
were  on  board  her,  and  we  are  rather  in  a  difficulty." 

"  What  is  that,  Mr.  Hill?" 

"  Well,  sir,  as  soon  as  we  had  settled  matters  here  we  followed 
the  enemy,  and  found  a  road  running  up  the  valley;  and  as 
it  was  along  this  that  most  of  the  fellows  who  opposed  us 
had  no  doubt  retreated,  I  thought  it  as  well  to  follow  them  up 
at  once.  We  had  evidently  been  watched,  for  a  musketry  fire 
was  opened  upon  us  from  the  trees  on  both  sides.  I  sent  Mr. 
Boldero  with  the  marines  to  clear  them  out  on  the  left,  and 
Mr.  Playford  with  twenty  seamen  to  do  the  same  on  the  right, 
and  then  I  pressed  forward  with  the  rest.  Presently  a  crowd 
of  negroes  came  rushing  down  from  the  front,  shouting,  and 
firing  muskets.  We  gave  them  a  volley,  and  they  bolted  at 
once.  We  ran  straight  on,  and  a  hundred  yards  farther  up 
came  upon  a  large  clearing. 

"  In  the  middle  stood  a  house,  evidently  that  of  a  planter. 


46  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

A  short  distance  off  were  some  houses,  probably  inhabited  by 
the  mulatto  overseers,  and  a  few  huts  for  his  white  overseers  \ 
and  some  distance  behind  these  were  four  large  barracoons. 
We  made  straight  for  these,  for  we  could  hear  a  shouting  there, 
and  had  no  doubt  that  the  mulattoes  were  trying  to  get  the 
slaves  out  and  to  drive  them  away  into  the  wood.  However, 
as  soon  as  we  came  up  the  fellows  bolted.  There  were  about  a 
hundred  slaves  in  each  barracoon.  No  doubt  the  fellows  who 
attacked  us  were  the  regular  plantation  hands.  I  suppose  the 
owner  of  the  place  made  sure  that  we  should  be  contented  with 
what  we  had  done,  and  should  not  go  beyond  the  head  of  the 
inlet ;  and  when  the  firing  began  again  he  sent  the  plantation 
men  down  to  stop  us  until  he  had  removed  the  slaves.  I  left 
Mr.  Playford  in  command  there,  and  brought  twenty  men  back 
here  ;  and  I  was  just  going  to  send  off  a  message  to  you  saying 
what  had  taken  place,  and  asking  for  instructions.  You  see, 
with  the  slaves  we  found  here,  we  have  over  five  hundred 
blacks  in  our  hands.  That  is  extremely  awkward." 

"  Extremely,"  the  captain  said  thoughtfully.  "  Well,  I  will 
go  back  with  you  and  see  the  place.  As  to  the  houses  —  the 
plantation  house  and  the  barracoons  —  I  shall  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  destroying  them.  This  is  evidently  a  huge  slaving 
establishment,  and,  as  the  blacks  and  their  overseers  attacked 
us,  we  are  perfectly  justified  in  destroying  this  den  altogether. 
If  I  could  catch  their  owner  I  should  assuredly  hang  him. 
The  difficulty  is  what  to  do  with  all  these  unfortunate  creatures ; 
the  schooner  would  not  hold  more  than  two  hundred  if  packed 
as  close  as  herrings.  However,  the  other  thing  is  first  to  be 
thought  of." 

Nat  followed  his  commander  and  the  lieutenant  to  the 
plantation,  or,  it  should  rather  be  said,  to  the  depot ;  for  the 
clearing  in  the  valley  was  but  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  and 
a  few  hundred  yards  wide.  It  was  evident  that  if  the  owner 


A  SLAVE   DEPOT  47 

had  a  plantation  it  was  at  some  distance  away,  and  that  the 
men  with  whom  they  had  fought  were  principally  mulattoes 
and  negroes  employed  about  the  place,  and  in  minding  the 
slaves  as  they  were  brought  in. 

They  passed  straight  on  to  the  barracoons.  The  sailors  had 
already  brought  the  slaves  out  and  knocked  off  their  irons. 
The  poor  creatures  sat  on  the  ground,  evidently  bewildered  at 
what  had  taken  place,  and  uncertain  whether  they  were  in  the 
hands  of  friends  or  enemies. 

"  Some  of  the  men  have  found  the  cauldrons  in  which  food 
is  cooked,"  Mr.  Hill  said,  "  and  are  now  preparing  a  meal  for 
them ;  and  as  we  found  some  hogsheads  of  molasses  and  stores 
of  flour  and  rice  they  will  get  a  better  meal  than  they  are 
accustomed  to.  I  have  set  some  of  the  strongest  slaves  to 
pump  water  into  those  big  troughs  there;  the  poor  beggars 
will  feel  all  the  better  after  a  wash." 

"They  will  indeed.  I  don't  suppose  they  have  had  one 
since  they  were  first  captured  in  Africa." 

In  half  an  hour  a  meal  was  served.  As  an  effort  of  cooking 
it  could  hardly  be  termed  a  success,  but  was  a  sort  of  porridge, 
composed  of  flour  and  rice  sweetened  with  molasses.  There 
was  some  difficulty  in  serving  it  out,  for  only  a  few  mugs 
and  plates  were  found  at  the  barracoons.  These  were  supple- 
mented by  all  the  plates,  dishes,  and  other  utensils  in  the 
houses  of  the  owner  and  overseers.  By  this  time  the  negroes 
had  been  taken  in  parties  of  twenties  to  the  troughs,  where 
they  had  a  thorough  wash. 

"This  is  all  very  well,  Mr.  Hill,"  the  captain  said,  "but 
what  are  we  to  do  with  all  these  people?  Of  course  we  must 
move  them  down  to  the  water,  and  burn  these  buildings,  in 
the  first  place  because  the  scoundrels  who  are  at  the  bottom 
of  all  this  villainy  should  be  punished,  and  in  the  second  place 
because  in  all  probability  they  will  collect  a  large  number  of 


48  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

negroes  and  mulattoes  and  make  an  attack.  We  cannot  leave 
a  force  here  that  could  defend  itself;  therefore,  whatever  we 
decide  upon  afterwards,  it  is  clear  that  all  the  slaves  must 
be  taken  down  to  the  houses  on  the  inlet.  I  should  set  the 
men  to  open  all  the  stores,  and  load  the  negroes  with  every- 
thing that  can  be  useful.  I  expect  you  will  find  a  good  deal 
of  cotton  cloth  and  so  on,  for  no  doubt  the  man  here  dealt 
in  other  articles  besides  slaves,  and  he  would,  moreover,  keep 
cottons  and  that  sort  of  thing  for  sending  them  up  the  country 
into  market.  However,  take  everything  that  is  worth  taking 
in  the  way  of  food  or  otherwise,  and  carry  it  down  to  the 
storehouses  by  the  water,  then  set  all  the  houses  and  sheds 
here  on  fire.  When  you  see  them  well  alight  you  can  bring 
the  men  down  to  the  shore ;  then  we  must  settle  as  to  our 
course.  It  is  a  most  awkward  thing  our  coming  upon  all  these 
slaves.  If  there  were  only  those  who  had  been  landed  from 
the  schooner  there  would  be  no  difficulty  about  it,  as  we  should 
only  have  to  put  them  on  board  again,  but  with  four  hundred 
others  on  our  hands  I  really  don't  know  how  to  manage.  We 
might  stow  a  hundred  in  the  frigate,  though  I  own  I  should 
not  like  it." 

"No,  indeed,"  Mr.  Hill  murmured;  "and  four  hundred 
would  be  out  of  the  question." 

The  captain  returned  to  the  inlet  and  made  an  examination 
of  the  storehouses  there.  They  were  for  the  most  part  empty. 
They  were  six  in  number,  roughly  constructed  of  timber,  and 
some  forty  feet  long  by  twenty  wide,  and  consisted  only  of 
the  one  floor.  They  stood  ten  feet  apart.  The  barracoon  was 
some  twenty  yards  away.  In  a  short  time  the  slaves  began 
to  pour  in,  all  —  men,  women,  and  children  —  carrying  burdens 
proportionate  to  their  strength.  They  had  now  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  their  new  captors  were  really  friends,  and  with 
the  light-heartedness  of  their  race  laughed  and  chattered  as  if 


A   SLAVE   DEPOT  49 

their  past  sufferings  were  already  forgotten.  Mr.  Playford  saw 
to  the  storing  of  their  burdens.  These  filled  one  of  the  store- 
houses to  the  roof.  There  was,  as  the  captain  had  anticipated, 
a  large  quantity  of  cotton  cloth  among  the  spoil.  Some  of  these 
bales  were  placed  outside  the  store,  twenty  of  the  negroes 
were  told  off  to  cut  the  stuff  up  into  lengths  for  clothing,  and 
by  mid-day  the  whole  of  the  slaves  were,  to  their  delight, 
attired  in  their  new  wraps.  Among  the  goods  that  had  been 
brought  down  were  a  number  of  implements  and  tools  —  axes, 
hoes,  shovels,  and  long  knives.  Captain  Crosbie  had,  by  this 
time,  quite  made  up  his  mind  as  to  the  plan  to  be  pursued. 

"  We  must  hold  this  place  for  a  time,  Mr.  Hill,"  he  said  as 
the  latter  came  down  with  the  last  body  of  sailors,  after  having 
seen  that  all  the  buildings  in  the  valley  were  wrapped  in 
flames.  "  I  have  been  thinking  over  the  question  of  the  slaves, 
and  the  only  plan  that  I  can  see  is  to  go  for  a  two  or  three 
day's  cruise  in  the  frigate,  in  hopes  of  falling  in  with  some  native 
craft  with  which  I  can  make  an  arrangement  for  them  to  return 
here  with  me,  and  aid  in  carrying  off  all  these  poor  creatures. 
These  five  storehouses  and  the  barracoon  will  hold  them  all 
pretty  comfortably.  Two  of  the  storehouses  had  better  be 
given  up  to  the  women  and  children.  We  will  make  a  stockade 
round  the  buildings,  with  the  ends  resting  in  the  water,  and 
get  the  guns  from  those  batteries  and  put  them  in  position 
here.  With  the  help  of  those  on  board  the  schooner,  a  stout 
defence  can  be  made  to  an  attack,  however  formidable.  I 
shall  leave  Mr.  Playford  in  command  with  forty  men  on  shore ; 
Mr.  Glover  will  be  in  charge  of  the  schooner  with  five-and- 
twenty  more.  The  frigate  will  remain  for  a  couple  of  days  at 
her  present  anchorage,  and  I  will  send  as  many  men  as  we 
can  spare  ashore  to  help  in  finishing  the  work  before  she  sails. 

"  In  the  first  place  there  must  be  a  barrack  run  up  for  the 
men  on  shore  between  the  barracoon  and  the  storehouses.  It 

4 


50  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

must  be  made  of  stout  beams.  I  don't  mean  squared,  but 
young  trees  placed  side  by  side  so  as  to  be  perfectly  musket- 
proof.  The  palisades  should  be  made  of  strong  saplings, 
wattled  together,  say,  ten  feet  high.  A  hundred  and  fifty 
sailors,  aided  by  three  hundred  and  fifty  able-bodied  negroes, 
should  make  quick  work  of  it.  The  schooner's  crew  can  see  to 
the  removal  of  the  guns  from  the  batteries  and  their  establish- 
ment upon  platforms  behind  the  palisade.  I  should  divide  the 
twelve  guns  into  four  batteries,  three  in  each.  The  armourer 
shall  come  off  in  the  morning  to  get  out  the  spikes,  and  the 
carpenters  shall  come  with  their  tools." 

"  There  are  a  dozen  cross-cut  saws  among  the  things  that  we 
have  brought  down,  sir." 

"  That  is  good.     How  many  axes  are  there  ?  " 

"  Four  dozen,  sir." 

"  Good  !  I  will  send  all  the  hatchets  we  have  on  board.  I 
think,  Mr.  Hill,  that  you  had  better  take  up  your  position  on 
board  the  schooner  until  we  sail.  How  about  water?  That 
is  a  most  important  point." 

"The  slaves  have  brought  down  a  large  number  of  staves,  sir. 
They  are  evidently  intended  for  sugar  hogsheads;  they  are 
done  up  in  separate  packets.  I  should  say  there  were  a 
hundred  of  them." 

"  That  is  satisfactory  indeed.  I  will  send  the  cooper  ashore, 
and  with  a  gang  of  the  black  fellows  he  will  soon  get  them 
all  into  shape.  I  see  that  they  have  relied  upon  the  stream 
that  comes  down  from  the  hills  for  their  supply.  One  of  the 
first  moves  of  anyone  attacking  the  place  would  be  to  divert 
its  course  somewhere  up  in  the  hills.  However,  with  such  a 
supply  as  these  hogsheads  would  hold,  we  could  do  without 
the  stream  for  weeks.  The  twenty  marines  who  came  ashore 
with  Lieutenant  Boldero  will  remain  as  part  of  the  garrison." 

The  work  was  at  once  begun.    The  sailors  looked  upon  it  as 


A  SLAVE   DEPOT  51 

a  pleasant  change  from  the  ordinary  routine  of  life  on  board 
ship,  and  threw  themselves  into  it  vigorously,  while  the  blacks, 
as  soon  as  they  understood  what  was  wanted,  proved  themselves 
most  useful  assistants.  Accustomed  in  their  African  homes 
to  palisade  their  villages,  they  knew  exactly  what  was  required. 
Some,  with  their  hoes,  dug  a  trench  four  feet  deep ;  others 
dragged  down  the  poles  as  the  sailors  cut  them,  erected  them 
in  their  places,  and  trod  the  earth  firmly  round  them.  Others 
cut  creepers,  or  split  up  suitable  wood,  and  wove  them  in  and 
out  between  the  poles ;  and,  by  the  time  darkness  fell,  a  sur- 
prising amount  of  work  had  been  accomplished. 

One  of  the  storehouses  was  turned  over  to  those  who  could 
not  be  berthed  on  board  the  schooner,  most  of  the  slaves 
preferring  to  sleep  in  the  open  air,  which  to  them  was  a 
delightful  change  after  being  cooped  up  for  weeks  in  the 
crowded  hold  of  a  ship,  or  in  the  no  less  crowded  barracoons. 
Sentries  were  posted  as  soon  as  it  became  dark,  but  the  night 
passed  off  without  an  alarm,  and  at  daybreak  all  were  at  work 
again.  The  launch  returned  to  the  frigate  when  work  was 
knocked  off,  and  came  back  with  a  fresh  body  of  men  in  the 
morning,  and  with  the  carpenters,  coopers,  and  all  the  available 
tools  on  board.  By  the  evening  of  the  third  day  the  work  was 
completed.  Four  banks  of  earth  had  been  thrown  up  by  the 
negroes  against  the  palisade,  and  on  each  of  these  three  guns 
were  mounted.  The  hut  for  the  garrison  had  been  completed. 
The  hogsheads  were  put  together  and  filled  with  water,  and  a 
couple  of  hundred  boarding-pikes  were  put  ashore  for  the  use 
of  the  negroes. 

Nat  had  been  fully  employed,  with  the  schooner's  crew,  in 
removing  the  guns  from  the  batteries,  and  placing  them  on  the 
platforms  constructed  by  the  carpenters  on  the  top  of  the  earth- 
works. 

"  It  is  quite  possible,"  the  captain  said  to  Mr.  Playford, 


52  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  that  this  creek  is  used  by  pirates  as  well  as  slavers.  They 
may  come  in  here  to  sell  goods  they  have  captured  suitable 
for  use  in  the  islands,  such  as  cotton  cloths  and  tools,  and  which 
it  would  not  pay  them  to  carry  to  their  regular  rendezvous.  It 
will  be  great  luck  if  one  or  two  of  them  should  put  in  here 
while  I  am  away.  It  would  greatly  diminish  the  difficulty  we 
have  of  getting  the  slaves  away." 

"  That  would  be  fortunate  indeed,  sir.  Even  if  two  came  in 
together  we  could  give  a  good  account  of  them,  for  as  the 
palisade  is  mostly  on  higher  ground  than  the  huts,  we  should 
only  have  to  slue  the  guns  round  and  give  them  such  a  warm 
welcome  that  they  would  probably  haul  down  their  flags  at 
once." 

"  Yes.  You  had  better  tell  Mr.  Glover  to  run  up  the  Spanish 
flag  if  any  doubtful-looking  craft  is  seen  to  be  making  for  the 
entrance,  and  I  should  always  keep  a  couple  of  signallers  up 
on  the  cliff,  so  as  to  let  you  know  beforehand  what  you  might 
have  to  expect,  and  to  see  that  there  is  nothing  showing  that 
could  excite  their  suspicions,  until  it  is  too  late  for  them  to 
turn  back." 

Doubtless  what  was  going  on  in  the  inlet  had  been  closely 
watched  from  the  woods,  for  in  the  evening  of  the  day  on 
which  the  frigate  sailed  away  scattered  shots  were  fired  from 
the  forest,  and  the  sound  of  the  beating  of  tom-toms  and 
the  blowing  of  horns  could  be  heard  in  the  direction  of  the 
plantation  whose  buildings  they  had  destroyed. 

The  lieutenant  had  gone  off  to  dine  with  Nat,  and  they 
were  sitting  on  deck  smoking  their  cigars  when  the  firing 
began. 

"I  almost  expected  it,"  he  said.  "No  doubt  they  have 
been  waiting  for  the  frigate  to  leave  before  they  did  anything, 
as  they  would  know  that  at  least  half  of  those  who  have  been 
ashore  would  re-embark  when  she  left.  I  have  no  doubt  the 


A  SLAVE   DEPOT  53 

scoundrels  whose  place  we  burnt  have  sent  to  all  the  planters 
in  this  part  of  the  islands  to  assemble  in  force  to  attack  us. 
If  they  have  seen  us  making  the  palisade  and  mounting  the 
guns,  as  no  doubt  they  have  done,  they  certainly  will  not 
venture  to  assault  the  place  unless  they  are  in  very  strong 
force,  but  they  can  make  it  very  unpleasant  for  us.  It  is  not 
more  than  eighty  yards  to  the  other  side  of  the  creek,  and  from 
that  hill  they  would  completely  command  us.  You  will  scarcely 
be  able  to  keep  a  man  on  deck,  and  we  shall  have  to  stay  in 
the  shelter  of  the  huts.  Of  course  on  this  side  they  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  annoy  us,  for  they  would  have  to  come 
down  to  the  edge  of  the  trees  to  fire,  and  as  we  could  fire 
through  the  palisade  upon  them  they  would  get  the  worst  of  it." 

"  We  might  row  across  in  the  boats,  sir,  and  clear  the  wood 
of  them  if  they  became  too  troublesome." 

"  We  should  run  the  risk  of  losing  a  good  many  men  in  doing 
so,  and  a  good  many  more  as  we  made  our  way  up  through  the 
trees  and  drove  them  out,  and  should  gain  nothing  by  it,  for 
as  soon  as  we  retired  they  would  reoccupy  the  position.  No ; 
if  they  get  very  troublesome  I  will  slue  a  couple  of  guns  round 
and  occasionally  send  a  round  or  two  of  grape  among  the 
trees.  That  will  be  better  than  your  doing  so,  because  your 
men  at  the  guns  would  make  an  easy  mark  for  them,  while 
we  are  farther  off,  and  indeed  almost  out  of  range  of  their 
muskets." 

The  firing  soon  died  away,  but  in  the  morning  it  was  re- 
opened, and  it  was  evident  that  the  number  in  the  wood  had 
largely  increased.  Bullet  after  bullet  struck  the  deck  of  the 
schooner,  and  Nat  was  obliged  to  order  the  greater  part  of  the 
crew  to  remain  below,  and  to  see  that  those  who  remained  on 
deck  kept  under  the  shelter  of  the  bulwark.  Presently  a  sharp 
fire  broke  out  from  the  trees  facing  the  palisade,  and  this  was 
almost  immediately  replied  to  by  the  blue-jackets  and  marines. 


54  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

The  fire  of  the  assailants  soon  slackened,  and  Nat  thought  that 
it  had  only  been  begun  with  the  object  of  finding  out  how 
strong  a  force  had  been  left  behind.  Presently  two  of  the  guns 
on  shore  spoke  out,  and  sent  a  volley  of  grape  into  the  wood 
in  which  his  own  assailants  were  lurking.  It  had  the  effect  of 
temporarily  silencing  the  fire  from  that  quarter.  This,  how- 
ever, was  but  for  a  short  time.  When  it  began  again  it  was 
taken  up  on  the  other  side  also,  the  party  which  had  made  the 
demonstration  against  the  palisade  evidently  considering  that 
the  schooner,  which  lay  midway  between  the  two  shores,  was  a 
safer  object  of  attack  than  the  stockade.  As  the  bulwark  now 
offered  no  shelter,  all  went  below.  Two  of  the  men  were 
about  to  pull  up  the  boat  which  was  lying  at  the  stern,  and 
Nat  went  to  the  ladder  to  take  his  place  in  it,  when  he  was 
hailed  from  shore. 

"You  had  better  stay  where  you  are,  Mr.  Glover,  until  it 
gets  dusk.  You  would  only  be  a  mark  for  every  man  with  a 
musket,  up  in  the  trees  above  us,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  there 
is  nothing  we  can  do  until  they  begin  work  in  earnest." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  Nat  shouted  back,  "  I  will  come  off  after 
it  gets  dusk." 

Firing  continued  all  day,  but  died  away  at  sunset,  and  soon 
afterwards  Nat  went  ashore. 

"  This  is  very  awkward,"  the  lieutenant  said.  "  It  is  most 
unpleasant  being  potted  at  all  day  by  fellows  who  won't  show 
themselves,  but  I  can't  see  that  we  can  help  it.  By  the  noise 
and  jabbering  that  breaks  out  at  times,  I  should  think  that 
there  must  be  some  hundreds  of  them  on  this  side  alone,  and 
we  shall  have  to  wait  till  they  begin  in  earnest.  Their 
leaders  must  know  that  they  can  be  doing  us  no  harm  by 
their  distant  fire,  and  they  must  sooner  or  later  make  an  attack 
on  us.  You  see  they  have  a  strong  temptation.  They  must 
have  seen  that  none  of  the  slaves  have  been  taken  away, 


A   SLAVE   DEPOT  55 

and  as  there  are  five  hundred  of  them,  and  I  suppose  they 
are  worth  from  twenty  to  forty  pounds  a  head,  it  is  a  big 
thing,  to  say  nothing  of  the  stores.  Then  I  have  no  doubt 
they  are  thirsting  for  revenge,  and  although  they  must  see 
that  they  will  have  to  fight  very  hard  to  take  the  place,  they 
must  try  without  delay,  for  they  will  know  that  the  frigate 
will  be  back  again  before  very  long,  and  will  probably  bring 
some  craft  with  her  to  carry  away  the  slaves.  So  I  think  we 
must  put  up  with  their  fire  till  they  harden  their  hearts  and 
attack  us  in  earnest.  They  will  make  the  attack,  I  expect, 
about  the  centre  of  the  palisade,  for  your  guns  would  cover  both 
our  flanks.  If  we  are  hard  pressed  I  will  light  a  port  fire,  and 
you  had  better  land  with  twenty  of  your  men,  leaving  five  to 
take  care  of  the  ship  and  work  a  gun  or  two  should  they  try 
to  take  us  in  flank." 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  they  tried  to-night.  Shall  I 
bring  ten  of  the  men  on  shore  at  once,  sir?" 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  as  well.  Forty  men  are  not  a 
very  large  force  for  this  length  of  palisade  and  to  work  some 
of  the  guns  at  the  point  where  they  may  attack  us,  and  I  ex- 
pect their  first  rush  will  be  a  serious  one,  and  we  shall  have 
all  our  work  cut  out  for  us.  There  is  one  thing;  we  can 
rely,  in  case  of  their  making  a  way  in,  on  the  slaves.  By  this 
time  they  quite  understand  that  we  are  friends  and  that  the 
people  who  had  been  firing  on  us  are  their  enemies,  and  I 
believe  they  would  fight  like  demons  rather  than  fall  into  their 
hands  again.  I  have  torn  up  a  bale  of  white  calico  and  have 
given  a  strip  of  it  to  each  man  to  tie  round  his  head,  so  that 
we  can  tell  friend  from  foe  and  they  can  recognize  each  other 
in  the  dark.  The  enemy  won't  reckon  on  that,  and  will  think 
that  they  have  only  a  small  body  of  whites  to  deal  with.  Do 
you  notice  how  silent  the  woods  are  now?  I  think  we  may 
take  that  as  a  sign  that  they  are  preparing  for  mischief," 


56  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  The  sooner  it  comes  the  better.  Have  you  plenty  of  port 
fires,  Mr.  Playford?" 

"  Yes,  a  large  boxful  came  on  shore  with  the  last  boat 
yesterday." 

Nat  went  off  again,  and  picked  out  ten  men  to  land  with  him. 

"  Get  the  other  boat  down,"  he  said  to  the  petty  officer. 
"  You  will  understand  that  if  any  attack  is  made  on  the  flanks 
of  the  work  you  are  to  open  fire  at  once  upon  them  with 
grape.  If  a  blue  light  is  burned  at  the  edge  of  the  water  ten 
men  are  to  land  instantly.  You  will  remain  in  charge  of  the 
other  five.  So  far  as  we  know  they  have  no  boats,  but  they 
may  have  made  a  raft,  and  may  intend  to  try  and  take  the 
schooner,  thinking  that  the  crew  will  probably  be  on  shore. 
So  you  must  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  the  other  side  as  well  as 
this.  Light  a  blue  light  if  you  see  a  strong  party  coming  off, 
and  we  will  rejoin  you  at  once." 

He  again  landed  with  the  ten  men  he  had  chosen. 

"  I  have  six  men  on  watch,"  the  lieutenant  said,  "  and  have 
put  one  of  the  blacks  with  each.  I  fancy  their  ears  are 
sharper  than  ours  are,  and  they  will  hear  them  coming  before 
our  men  do." 

Having  nothing  to  do,  Nat  went  into  the  barracoon  and 
the  other  houses  in  which  the  slaves  were  placed.  The  con- 
trast between  their  condition  now  and  when  he  had  seen  them 
four  days  before,  when  they  had  first  been  found,  was  striking 
indeed.  Now  they  were  clean,  and  looked  picturesque  in  their 
bright  calico  clothes.  The  look  of  dull  and  hopeless  misery 
had  passed  away,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  with  the  good 
and  plentiful  food  they  had  received  they  were  already  per- 
ceptibly plumper.  They  would  have  risen  as  he  entered,  but 
he  signed  to  them  to  keep  their  places.  They  now  had  room 
to  lie  down  in  comfort,  and  while  some  sat  chatting  in  groups 
others  moved  about.  They  were  evidently  proud  of  their 


A   SLAVE   DEPOT  57 

arms,  and  some  of  them,  seizing  their  pikes  or  hatchets,  made 
signs  how  they  would  fight  their  enemies.  A  ship's  lantern 
was  burning  in  each  hut. 

In  the  women's  huts  the  scene  was  still  more  interesting. 
The  little  children  ran  up  to  Nat  with  a  new-born  confidence 
in  white  men.  Some  of  the  women  brought  up  babies  to  show 
him,  and  endeavoured  to  make  him  understand  that  these 
would  soon  .have  died  had  it  not  been  for  the  sailors.  The 
windows  and  doors  stood  open,  and  the  evening  breeze  cleared 
the  huts  of  the  effluvium  always  present  where  a  number  of 
negroes  congregate  together.  The  sight  of  the  poor  creatures 
enraged  Nat  still  more  against  the  slavers,  and  made  him  long 
for  them  to  begin  their  attack. 

"  It  is  quite  pleasant  to  see  them,"  he  said  as  he  joined  Mr. 
Playford.  "  They  are  wonderfully  changed  in  this  short  time. 
One  would  hardly  have  thought  it  possible.  What  will  become 
of  them?" 

"I  expect  we  shall  take  them  to  Jamaica,  and  that  there 
they  will  be  let  out  as  free  labourers  to  the  planters.  You 
see  there  is  no  law  against  the  slave-trade,  though  public 
opinion  is  so  strong  on  the  subject  at  home  that  I  have  no 
doubt  such  a  law  will  be  passed  before  long.  So,  of  course,  we 
have  not  captured  the  slaves  because  of  their  being  slaves,  but 
simply  as  we  should  capture  or  destroy  other  property  belong- 
ing to  an  enemy.  Then,  too,  many  of  the  slavers  act  as  pirates 
if  they  get  the  chance,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  a 
considerable  quantity  of  the  goods  we  found  are  the  proceeds 
of  piracy.  Besides,  you  must  remember  that  they  fired  at  us 
before  we  fired  at  them.  So  we  have  plenty  of  good  reasons 
for  releasing  these  poor  beggars.  You  see  these  seas  swarm 
with  scoundrels  of  all  kinds,  and  it  is  quite  safe  to  assume  that 
all  ships  that  cannot  show  that  they  are  peaceful  traders  are 
engaged  in  nefarious  business  of  some  kind  or  other." 


58  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

CHAPTER  IV 

A  SHARP   FIGHT 


M1 


R.  PLAYFORD  and  Nat  were  still  talking  when  a  sailor 
came  up  to  him  with  one  of  the  negroes. 

"  What  is  it,  Tomkins?  "  the  lieutenant  asked. 

"  Well,  sir,  this  'ere  black  seems  to  hear  something ;  he  keeps 
pointing  up  into  the  wood  and  whispering  something  in  his 
own  lingo  and  looking  very  excited,  so  I  thought  I  had  better 
bring  him  here  to  you." 

"  Quite  right,  Tomkins ;  no  doubt  he  does  hear  something, 
their  ears  are  a  good  deal  better  than  ours  are.  I  will  go  up 
with  you." 

Accompanied  by  Nat,  Mr.  Playford  went  up  on  to  the  bank 
of  earth  that  had  been  thrown  up  against  the  palisade,  and 
found  that  the  negroes  there  were  all  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment, pointing  in  various  directions  and  shaking  their  pikes 
angrily. 

"They  are  coming,  there  is  no  doubt  of  that,"  he  said.  "  I 
should  say,  by  the  motions  of  the  blacks,  that  they  are 
scattered  through  the  wood.  Well,  we  are  ready  for  them. 
You  had  better  get  your  slow  matches  alight,  my  lads ;  don't 
take  the  covers  off  the  vents  until  the  last  moment,  the  dew 
is  heavy." 

They  were  joined  now  by  Lieutenant  Boldero.  "  I  think 
I  can  hear  them,"  he  said. 

"  Yes.  I  should  not  have  noticed  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
blacks,  but  there  is  certainly  a  confused  noise  in  the  air." 

Listening  attentively,  they  could  hear  a  low  rustling  sound, 
with  sometimes  a  faint  crack  as  of  a  breaking  stick. 

"  As  soon  as  we  think  that  they  have  got  to  the  edge  of  the 


A   SHARP  FIGHT  59 

trees  we  will  throw  a  fireball  out  in  that  direction,  and  then 
let  them  have  it.  We  must  keep  them  from  getting  closer  if 
we  can ;  when  they  once  get  near  the  foot  of  the  palisade  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  depress  our  guns  enough  to  fire  upon  them." 

In  a  short  time  there  was  no  question  that  a  large  number 
of  men  were  making  their  way  down  through  the  wood.  The 
blacks  were  now  brought  out  from  the  houses  and  ranged 
along  at  the  foot  of  the  bank,  where  they  were  ordered  to  stay 
for  the  present,  as  were  they  to  man  the  line  they  would  be 
exposed  to  the  assailants'  bullets,  while  powerless  to  do  any 
service  until  the  latter  began  to  attempt  to  scale  the  stockade. 

"  They  must  be  gathering  at  the  edge  of  the  trees  now,"  the 
lieutenant  said  at  last.  "Now,  Tomkins,  light  that  fireball 
and  heave  it  over." 

The  ball,  which  was  formed  of  old  junk,  was  about  the  size 
of  a  man's  head.  The  material  had  been  smeared  with  tar 
mixed  with  sulphur,  and  Tomkins  held  in  his  hand  the  lanyard 
attached  to  it.  He  applied  a  slow  match  to  it,  and  it  broke 
into  a  blaze  at  once.  Swinging  it  round  his  head,  he  hurled 
it  far  in  front  of  him.  By  its  light  as  it  fell  a  crowd  of  figures 
could  be  seen  gathered  along  the  edge  of  the  forest.  A  fierce 
yell  broke  from  them,  and  loud  shouts  were  raised  by  the 
leaders  ordering  them  to  charge,  but  before  they  could  get 
into  motion  four  guns  poured  a  storm  of  grape  among  them, 
followed  directly  afterwards  by  the  contents  of  four  others. 
An  appalling  din  of  yells  and  shrieks  was  heard,  but  without 
an  instant's  hesitation  a  score  of  figures  in  European  dress 
darted  forward,  followed  by  a  mass  of  blacks,  behind  whom 
came  another  thirty  or  forty  Europeans  or  mulattoes  driving 
the  negroes  before  them. 

"  Pick  off  the  whites  ! "  Lieutenant  Boldero  shouted  to  the 
marines,  and  a  dropping  fire  of  musketry  was  at  once  opened. 

The  distance,  however,  from  the  edge  of  the  trees  to  the 


60  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

palisades  was  but  some  fifty  yards;  the  light  was  dim  and 
uncertain,  and  in  a  minute  from  the  first  shot  being  fired  the 
assailants  were  swarming  along  the  foot  of  the  palisade.  There 
was  no  hesitation,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  men  who  led  the 
attack  had  made  every  preparation.  A  number  of  the  assail- 
ants carried  ladders ;  these  were  placed  against  the  wall,  and 
the  whites  and  mulattoes  swarmed  up,  closely  followed  by  the 
negroes.  So  sudden  and  unexpected  was  this  assault  that 
in  several  places  they  obtained  a  footing  inside  the  palisades, 
but  with  a  wild  yell  the  slaves  at  once  rushed  up  the  bank 
and  fell  upon  them.  At  the  same  moment  the  boom  of  the 
schooner's  guns  told  that  they  had  made  out  parties  of  the 
enemy  advancing  against  the  flanks  of  the  works. 

The  arrival  of  the  slaves  soon  changed  the  position.  The 
assailants  were  cut  down,  run  through,  or  forced  to  leap  down 
over  the  stockade  that  they  had  just  crossed.  In  spite  of  the 
shouts  of  the  lieutenant,  the  slaves,  thirsting  for  vengeance, 
leapt  down  after  them,  and  fell  with  such  fury  upon  the 
assailants  that  these,  seized  with  a  panic,  fled.  At  the  edge 
of  the  trees,  however,  the  efforts  of  the  whites  checked  the 
flight.  Guns  and  pistols  were  discharged  for  the  first  time, 
and  a  fierce  fight  presently  raged. 

"  We  must  go  down  and  lend  them  a  hand,"  the  lieutenant 
said.  "Keep  your  men  here,  Mr.  Glover,  to  get  the  guns 
loaded  again;  I  will  take  my  blue-jackets  and  the  marines. 
Light  a  port  fire  or  two,  else,  in  spite  of  their  white  head-gear, 
we  shall  be  hurting  our  friends. 

The  sailors  and  marines  soon  scrambled  down  the  ladders, 
and,  led  by  their  officers,  rushed  forward  with  loud  cheers. 
Their  arrival  at  once  decided  the  fortune  of  the  fray. 
Rushing  through  their  black  allies,  they  fell  with  sword  and 
cutlass,  musket  and  bayonet,  upon  the  Europeans,  whose 
pistols  had  given  them  a  decided  advantage  over  the  slaves, 


A   SHARP   FIGHT  61 

but  who  could  not  stand  the  charge  of  the  marines  and 
seamen.  These  pursued  them  for  some  little  distance,  but 
when  beyond  the  range  of  the  lights  of  the  stockade  Lieutenant 
Playford  halted  them.  The  slaves,  however,  continued  the 
pursuit  for  some  time,  and  then  they,  too,  returned,  having 
overtaken  and  killed  many  of  their  flying  enemies. 

"There  is  nothing  more  to  be  done  till  daylight,"  Mr.  Play- 
ford  said.  "Indeed,  I  do  not  think  that  we  shall  hear  any 
more  of  these  fellows,  who,  to  do  them  justice,  fought  well. 
Our  guns  must  have  done  a  good  deal  of  execution,  though 
they  would  have  done  much  more  had  they  not  been  so  close ; 
the  bullets  had  hardly  begun  to  scatter.  However,  we  shall 
see  in  the  morning.  It  is  lucky  that  we  armed  the  slaves,  or 
it  would  have  gone  very  hard  with  us.  You  see,  we  had  half 
our  men  at  the  guns,  and  the  others  were  too  thinly  scattered 
along  the  line  to  be  able  to  defend  it  against  so  determined 
an  attack.  I  expect  they  never  calculated  on  the  slaves  being 
armed,  and  thought  that  they  had  only  forty  or  fifty  men  to 
deal  with.  After  the  lesson  that  they  have  had  I  don't  think 
they  will  molest  us  again,  unless  there  are  any  troops  in  the 
neighbourhood  that  they  can  bring  up." 

The  palisades  were  recrossed  and  sentries  set;  grog  was 
served  out  to  the  seamen  and  marines ;  the  slaves  were  mad 
with  delight,  and  danced  and  sang  songs  of  triumph  for  some 
time.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  lieutenant  motioned  them  to 
return  to  their  huts  they  did  so  at  once.  Many  of  them  were 
wounded  more  or  less  severely,  but  they  seemed  to  think 
nothing  of  this,  being  too  much  pleased  with  the  vengeance 
they  had  taken  to  care  aught  for  the  pain.  Nat  prepared 
to  return  to  the  schooner  with  his  men,  none  of  whom  were, 
however,  seriously  hurt,  as  they  had  been  held  in  reserve. 
Altogether,  three  sailors  and  a  marine  had  been  killed  and 
six  severely  wounded. 


bJ  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Are  you  going  on  board,  Mr.  Playford  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I  shall  stay  ashore  till  morning.  I  do  not  think  that 
there  is  the  remotest  chance  of  the  attack  being  renewed ; 
however,  it  is  clearly  my  duty  to  stay  here." 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight  Nat  went  on  shore  again,  and 
with  ten  of  his  own  men,  ten  marines,  and  a  hundred  of  the 
slaves,  went  over  the  ground  to  collect  the  wounded,  and  learn 
the  loss  of  the  assailants.  All  the  wounded  sailors  had  been 
carried  into  the  fort  when  the  fight  ceased.  Six  Spaniards 
and  nine  mulattoes  lay  dead  either  on  the  earthen  rampart 
or  at  the  foot  of  the  palisade.  All  of  them  were  pierced 
in  several  places  by  pikes,  or  mutilated  with  blows  of  axes. 
Round  them  lay  some  twenty  plantation  negroes,  and  thirty 
others  had  fallen  at  the  edge  of  the  wood,  shattered  by  the 
discharges  of  the  cannon  or  killed  in  the  hand-to-hand  con- 
flict; among  them  were  twelve  of  the  released  slaves.  Not 
a  single  white  or  mulatto  was  found  alive. 

The  party  pursued  their  way  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  into 
the  wood.  Here  and  there  were  scattered  the  bodies  of  the 
assailants  who  had  been  overtaken  by  their  pursuers.  The 
latter  had  done  their  work  thoroughly,  for  not  a  single  man 
was  found  to  be  breathing.  When  they  came  to  a  point  beyond 
which  the  slaves  by  signs  apprised  them  that  they  had  not 
gone,  they  returned,  collecting  and  carrying  down  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  as  they  went.  They  found  on  their  return  that 
two  trenches,  four  feet  deep  and  thirty  feet  long,  had  already 
been  dug,  at  the  edge  of  the  forest  and  as  far  from  the  camp 
as  possible.  In  one  of  these  the  bodies  of  the  Spaniards  and 
mulattoes  were  laid,  and  in  the  other  that  of  the  negroes. 
The  earth  was  then  filled  in. 

"It  has  been  an  unpleasant  job,  but  a  necessary  one,"  Lieu- 
tenant Playford  said,  when  he  knew  that  the  work  was  done, 
and  the  whole  party  re-entered  the  fort.  "  In  a  climate  like 


A   SHARP   FIGHT  63 

this  the  place  would  have  been  uninhabitable  in  a  couple  of 
days  if  we  had  not  buried  them  all." 

In  the  afternoon  two  fresh  graves  were  made,  and  the  fallen 
sailors  were  reverently  laid  to  rest  in  one,  the  dead  slaves  in 
the  other.  Water  was  brought  up  in  buckets  by  the  negroes 
from  the  edge  of  the  creek,  and  all  signs  of  the  conflict  on  the 
rampart  and  at  the  foot  of  the  palisade  either  washed  away 
or  covered  with  earth.  Then  matters  resumed  their  former 
aspect. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  look-out  on  the  cliff  ran  down 
and  reported  that  a  large  brigantine  was  just  entering  the 
inlet.  Mr.  Playford  shouted  the  news  to  Nat. 

"I  will  send  off  the  marines  to  you,"  he  said.  "I  will 
remain  here  with  the  blue-jackets." 

The  Spanish  flag  was  at  once  run  up  to  the  peak.  In  two 
or  three  minutes  the  boat  with  the  marines  came  alongside. 
They  and  the  greater  part  of  the  sailors  at  once  lay  down  on 
the  deck,  while  the  few  who  remained  on  foot  took  off  their 
straw  hats  and  white  jumpers,  tied  handkerchiefs  round  their 
heads,  and  gave  themselves  as  unseamanlike  an  appearance 
as  possible.  Ten  minutes  later  the  brigantine  appeared  round 
the  point;  there  was  scarce  a  breath  of  wind,  and  she  had 
two  boats  towing  her.  A  flag  hung  from  her  mast-head,  and 
as  Nat  turned  his  glass  upon  it  he  exclaimed  to  Boldero, 
who,  having  removed  his  coat  and  cap,  was  standing  by  his 
side  : 

"  It  is  the  black  flag ;  the  fellow  must  be  pretty  sure  of  his 
welcome  or  he  would  never  venture  to  haul  it  up." 

In  the  meantime  the  guns  ashore  had  been  slued  round, 
and  were  now  pointed  on  a  spot  somewhat  ahead  of  the 
schooner.  She  came  slowly  along  until  within  some  four  or 
five  lengths  of  the  latter,  then  there  was  a  sudden  shout  on 
board,  followed  by  a  tremendous  hubbub.  It  was  clear  that 


64  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

the  line  of  palisades  surrounding  the  huts  had  been  noticed 
and  the  guns  seen. 

The  brigantine  was  crowded  with  men.  She  carried  twelve 
guns  in  her  ports,  and  a  long  swivel  eighteen-pounder  in  her 
bow.  There  was  now  no  longer  any  motive  for  conceal- 
ment, the  marines  and  seamen  leapt  to  their  feet  with  a 
cheer,  and  a  moment  later  the  schooner's  two  foremost  guns, 
which  would  alone  bear  on  the  boats,  spoke  out,  while  almost 
at  the  same  moment  two  of  those  on  the  rampart  sent  a 
shower  of  grape  into  them.  Both  boats  sank  immediately, 
those  of  the  crews  who  were  uninjured  swimming  to  the 
brigantine.  Contradictory  orders  were  shouted  on  board  the 
pirate.  One  by  one  her  guns  on  the  port  side  answered  those 
on  the  ramparts. 

"  Get  ready,  my  lads  !  "  Nat  shouted,  "  she  will  be  alongside 
directly." 

The  impetus  of  the  schooner's  way  was  indeed  sufficient  to 
take  her  slowly  but  surely  forward,  and  the  pirate  slightly 
changed  his  course  so  as  to  bring  her  outside  the  schooner. 
Playford  saw  what  his  object  was,  and  the  remaining  guns 
poured  their  charges  of  grape  across  the  deck  of  the  brigan- 
tine, committing  terrible  havoc.  Before  they  could  be  loaded 
again  she  was  alongside  the  schooner,  and  so  covered  by  her 
from  the  fire  of  the  guns  on  shore.  As  the  vessels  came 
abreast  of  each  other  at  a  distance  of  two  or  three  feet  only, 
Nat  and  the  young  marine  officer  leapt  on  to  the  pirate's  deck 
followed  by  their  men.  The  resistance  of  the  pirates  was 
desperate.  Although  they  had  suffered  much  loss  from  the 
fire  of  the  guns,  they  were  still  numerically  stronger  than  their 
assailants,  and,  fighting  as  they  did  with  the  desperation  of 
despair,  they  not  only  held  their  ground,  but  pushed  their 
assailants  back  towards  the  bulwark. 

For  three  or  four  minutes  the  fight  continued  without  any 


THE    GUNS   ON    THE    RAMPART    SEND    A   SHOWER    OF    GRAPE 
INTO   THE   PIRATE. 


A   SHARP   FIGHT  65 

marked  advantage  to  either  party ;  the  pistols  of  the  seamen 
and  pirates  and  the  muskets  of  the  marines  were  empty,  and 
they  were  fighting  hand  to  hand.  Then  slowly  the  advantage 
turned  against  the  pirates,  but  the  issue  was  still  undecided 
when  there  was  a  loud  cheer,  and  Mr.  Playford  with  fifteen 
sailors  leapt  on  the  deck  of  the  pirate  from  the  other  side,  the 
approach  of  the  boat  having  been  unnoticed  in  the  heat  of  the 
fray.  The  pirates  now  broke ;  their  captain  had  fallen,  and, 
outnumbered  and  hopeless,  some  threw  down  their  arms,  while 
others  jumped  overboard.  Those  who  surrendered  were  at 
once  bound  and  battened  down  in  the  hold  of  the  schooner, 
some  eight  or  ten  only  gained  the  opposite  shore  and  took  to 
the  woods.  The  victory  had  not  been  a  bloodless  one.  Five 
of  the  frigate's  crew  had  been  killed,  and  there  were  few  among 
Nat's  command  who  were  not  more  or  less  severely  wounded. 

"  It  was  a  sharp  fight,  Mr.  Glover,"  Mr.  Playford  said. 

"  It  was  indeed,  sir.  At  one  time  they  fairly  drove  us 
back,  but  I  think  that  we  should  have  beaten  them  even  if  you 
had  not  brought  help  to  us." 

"  I  am  sure  you  would,"  the  lieutenant  said  warmly.  "  I 
could  see  as  I  boarded  that  although  the  men  in  front  were 
fighting  hard,  those  in  the  rear  were  hanging  back  as  if  they 
had  had  enough  of  it.  Still,  you  might  have  lost  more  men 
than  you  did  before  you  finished  with  them  if  we  had  not 
turned  up.  You  see,  fighting  with  pirates  is  quite  a  different 
thing  from  fighting  with  any  other  opponents.  These  fellows 
know  well  enough  that  there  is  no  mercy  for  them,  and  that 
they  have  nothing  before  them  but  to  fight  until  they  die,  or 
to  be  tried  and  hanged.  The  veriest  coward  would  fight  till 
the  last  with  such  an  alternative  as  that  before  him.  I  would 
rather  fight  a  hundred  and  fifty  French  or  Spanish  seamen 
than  a  hundred  pirates.  She  is  a  fine  roomy  craft  that  we 
have  taken,  and  I  think  we  shall  now  be  able  to  carry  off 

5 


66  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

all  these  blacks.  No  doubt  it  will  be  a  close  pack  for  them, 
but  for  a  short  voyage  that  will  not  matter.  Now  let  us  see 
to  our  wounded.  After  that  is  done  we  can  get  off  the 
hatches  and  have  a  look  round  below.  Of  course  she  may 
have  come  in  here  for  water,  but  it  is  likely  that  she  has  at 
least  some  booty  in  her  hold." 

This  proved  to  be  the  case.  She  was  half  full  of  goods  of  a 
more  or  less  valuable  kind,  and  these,  by  the  marks  on  the 
bales  and  boxes,  had  evidently  formed  part  of  the  cargoes  of 
three  ships.  Two  days  later  the  Orpheus  was  seen  returning 
along  the  coast,  and  Nat  was  at  once  sent  off  by  the  lieutenant 
with  his  written  report  of  what  had  taken  place  since  she  had 
sailed.  The  gig  reached  the  side  of  the  frigate  just  as  the 
anchor  was  let  go. 

"  I  see  your  right  arm  is  in  a  sling,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  captain 
said  as  he  handed  him  the  report,  "  so  I  suppose  that  you  have 
had  some  fighting." 

"  Yes,  sir,  we  have  had  some  pretty  sharp  fighting." 

"  What  is  your  wound  ?  " 

"  Only  a  chop  with  a  cutlass,  sir." 

"  Oh,  you  came  to  hand-to-hand  work,  did  you  ?  " 

Nat  gave  no  answer,  for  the  captain  had  opened  the  report 
and  was  now  running  his  eye  down  it. 

"  Very  satisfactory,"  he  said,  as  he  handed  it  to  the  first 
lieutenant.  "An  attacking  force  handsomely  repulsed  and  a 
pirate  captured.  Very  good  work  indeed,  very  good.  I  see 
Mr.  Boldero  was  wounded,  Mr.  Glover." 

"  Yes,  sir,  he  was  hit  on  the  head  with  a  pistol-shot.  Fortu- 
nately the  ball  glanced  off  the  skull.  He  was  stunned  for  a 
time,  but  is  now  nearly  himself  again." 

"  Here  is  some  work  for  you,  Dr.  Bemish,"  the  captain  said. 
"  Mr.  Playford  reports  that  ten  of  the  cases  are  serious.  I  am 
going  ashore  in  my  gig  at  once,  and  will  take  you  with  me. 


A   SHARP   FIGHT  67 

You  had  better  send  the  cutter  at  once,  Mr.  Hill,  to  bring  off 
the  wounded.  You  may  as  well  return  in  your  own  boat, 
Mr.  Glover,  Mr.  Curtis  can  go  in  charge  of  the  cutter.  Mr. 
Needham  can  go  with  me." 

Nat  at  once  returned  to  his  boat.  He  was  overtaken  by  the 
captain's  gig  when  half-way  up  the  inlet  He  rowed  to  the 
schooner,  while  the  gig  made  straight  for  the  landing-place 
where  the  lieutenant  was  standing. 

"  I  congratulate  you,  Mr.  Playford,"  the  captain  said  as  he 
stepped  ashore.  "  You  seem  to  have  had  a  pretty  busy  time 
of  it  since  we  have  been  away.  I  certainly  did  not  think  they 
would  attempt  to  attack  you  when  you  had  those  guns  in 
position,  and  I  did  not  reckon  on  the  pirate.  She  is  a  fine 
brigantine ;  the  schooner  looks  quite  small  beside  her." 

"Yes,  sir,  she  is  over  three  hundred  tons.  Her  broadside 
guns  are  all  twelve-pounders,  and  she  carries  an  eighteen- 
pounder  as  a  swivel.  She  had  a  crew  of  seventy  men,  of 
whom  only  eight  or  ten  got  ashore,  the  rest  were  all  accounted 
for  except  twelve,  who  are  in  irons  below.  The  credit  of 
capturing  her,  sir,  really  belongs  to  Mr.  Glover,  for  although 
I  went  off  to  his  assistance  he  would  have  taken  her  without 
my  aid,  though  the  pirates  were  still  fighting  strongly." 

"Well,  it  has  been  a  very  successful  business  altogether, 
Mr.  Playford.  The  capture  of  the  brigantine  is  specially  for- 
tunate, as  I  have  failed  to  come  across  any  native  craft  as  I 
had  hoped  to  do,  but  with  this  extra  accommodation  we  shall 
be  able  to  manage  to  carry  off  all  the  slaves.  I  see  by  your 
account  that  Mr.  Glover  had  the  marines  as  well  as  his  own 
twenty  men." 

"Yes,  sir,  I  sent  Lieutenant  Boldero  and  fourteen  marines 
on  board ;  he  had  lost  six  either  killed  or  seriously  wounded 
in  the  attack  here.  I  own  that  I  had  hardly  calculated  upon 
the  brigantine  getting  alongside  the  schooner.  I  thought  that 


68  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

when  we  had  smashed  up  her  boats,  which  I  made  certain 
we  should  do,  she  would  be  so  completely  at  our  mercy  that, 
being  becalmed,  she  would  haul  down  her  flag ;  but  she  had 
sufficient  way  on  her  to  take  her  alongside  the  schooner,  and 
her  captain  put  her  there  so  cleverly  that  I  could  not  fire  at 
her  except  through  the  schooner.  I  saw  at  once  that  the 
whole  position  was  changed,  for  if  he  had  captured  the 
schooner  he  might  have  put  all  his  men  into  the  boats  and 
made  a  dash  for  shore ;  and  as  I  had  so  few  men  fit  for  work 
it  would  have  been  awkward,  though  with  the  aid  of  the 
blacks  I  have  no  doubt  I  should  have  driven  them  off." 

"  Then  I  suppose  your  discharge  of  grape  did  not  do  him 
very  much  harm?" 

"  Not  so  much  as  it  ought  to  have  done,  sir.  You  see  the 
first  two  guns  we  fired  destroyed  his  boats.  The  other  guns 
were  all  too  weakly  handled  to  be  trained  on  the  pirate  as  he 
forged  ahead,  and  as  far  as  I  could  see  not  one  of  them  did 
any  serious  execution  among  his  crew.  Yesterday  I  told  off 
four  negroes  to  each  gun,  and  kept  them  at  work  all  day 
learning  how  to  train  them  under  the  direction  of  the  sailors. 
If  I  had  thought  of  that  before  we  should  have  swept  his 
decks  with  such  effect  that  when  she  got  alongside  the  schooner 
Mr.  Glover's  party  would  have  had  easy  work  of  it." 

"You  could  hardly  think  of  everything,  Mr.  Playford,  and 
you  certainly  did  right  in  sending  the  marines  off  to  the 
schooner  directly  you  had  news  that  this  brigantine  was  enter- 
ing the  inlet.  No  doubt  if  you  had  wished  to  sink  her  it 
would  have  been  better  to  have  kept  them  on  shore  to  help 
work  the  guns,  but  as  she  is  a  valuable  prize,  and  we  wanted 
her  badly  to  help  carry  away  the  slaves,  you  were  quite 
right  not  to  try  to  damage  her.  You  say  she  is  half  full  of 
plunder  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,  and  there  were  nearly  eight  hundred  pounds  in 


A  SHARP   FIGHT  69 

money  and  thirty-four  watches  and  some  jewellery  found  in 
the  captain's  cabin." 

"  She  is  a  valuable  capture,  and  I  should  think  the  admiral 
would  buy  her  into  the  service.  She  is  just  the  sort  of  craft 
that  we  want.  The  schooner  would  be  too  small  to  tackle 
one  of  these  heavily-armed  pirates  with  their  crowds  of  men. 
So  your  slaves  fought  well?" 

"That  they  did,  sir.  If  it  had  been  daylight  I  doubt 
whether  any  of  the  whites  who  led  the  attack  would  have 
escaped.  Of  course  they  had  no  particular  animosity  against 
the  negroes,  but  I  believe  that  they  would  have  followed  the 
whites  and  mulattoes  half  across  the  island." 

"Well,  do  you  think  that  the  two  craft  will  carry  all  the 
slaves  ?  " 

"  Hardly,  sir ;  the  schooner  can  stow  a  hundred  and  fifty. 
Of  course  it  will  be  close  work,  but  there  will  be  room  for  that 
number  to  lie  down,  and  with  the  hatches  both  open  they  will 
be  all  right.  By  rearranging  the  cargo  a  bit,  two  hundred 
could  sleep  in  the  hold  of  the  brigantine.  That  would  still 
leave  rather  over  one  hundred  and  fifty." 

"Well,  we  must  give  up  part  of  the  hold  of  the  frigate  to 
them,"  the  captain  said,  "  there  is  no  help  for  it.  There  are 
about  that  number  of  women  and  children,  are  there  not  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  They  had  better  go  off  in  the  frigate,  then.  Of  course, 
the  prisoners  will  be  sent  off  too.  I  will  pay  a  visit  to  the 
brigantine,  and  then  go  off  myself,  and  will  send  the  boats  in 
as  soon  as  I  get  there.  You  may  as  well  be  getting  the  men 
on  board  at  once.  As  soon  as  they  are  all  off,  you  will,  of 
course,  set  fire  to  all  the  sheds  here,  but  you  may  as  well  send 
off  a  boat-load  of  stores  suitable  for  them  to  the  frigate,  and 
will,  of  course,  victual  these  two  craft.  I  shall  send  you 
another  forty  men  to  fill  up  the  vacancies  that  have  been 


70  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

caused,  and  to  furnish  a  crew  for  the  brigantine,  of  which,  of 
course,  you  will  take  the  command.  You  and  the  schooner 
will  keep  in  close  company.  The  marines  will  return  to  the 
ship.  Mr.  Needham  will  be  your  second  on  the  brigantine." 

"How  about  the  guns,  sir?  They  are  all  old  pieces,  and 
scarcely  worth  carrying  away." 

"  Yes,  but  I  won't  leave  them  here  to  be  used  for  defend- 
ing this  place  again.  You  had  better  take  them  off  their 
carriages,  spike  them,  get  them  into  the  boats,  and  heave 
them  overboard,  well  out  in  deep  water.  Do  you  think  that 
you  will  be  able  to  get  everything  done  before  dark,  Mr. 
Playford?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  is  only  nine  o'clock  now,  and  if  you  will  send 
a  strong  working  party,  in  addition  to  those  who  will  be  taking 
the  slaves  on  board,  to  help  with  the  stores  and  guns,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  I  shall  be  able  to  get  the  work  done  well  before 
sunset." 

"  Very  well.  Mr.  Hill  will  come  on  shore  as  soon  as  I 
return  to  the  frigate." 

The  work  went  on  without  ceasing  all  day,  and  the  pinnace, 
which  had  been  recovered  and  repaired  before  the  frigate  sailed, 
and  the  launch,  went  backwards  and  forwards  to  the  frigate 
with  the  women,  children,  and  stores,  while  the  boats  of  the 
brigantine  and  schooner  carried  the  men  to  those  craft,  as 
soon  as  the  stores  for  the  voyage,  and  the  bales  of  cotton  and 
other  goods  that  would  be  useful,  had  been  taken  off.  When 
the  two  large  boats  had  finished  their  work  they  were  employed 
in  carrying  out  the  guns,  which  had,  before  the  slaves  embarked, 
been  brought  down  by  them  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  By 
three  o'clock  all  was  finished,  and  the  last  boat-load  of  the 
sailors  rowed  out  to  the  prizes,  after  having  set  fire  to  all  the 
huts.  These  were  soon  in  a  blaze,  to  the  delight  of  the  negroes, 
who  danced  and  shouted  for  joy.  Half  of  these  were  sent 


A  SHARP   FIGHT  71 

below  at  once,  as  they  crowded  the  decks  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  render  it  impossible  for  the  sailors  to  work. 

Those  who  remained  were  ranged  in  rows  by  the  bulwarks 
from  end  to  end  of  the  craft ;  then  the  anchors  were  got  up, 
and  the  sails  dropped  and  sheeted  home.  The  wind  was  very 
light,  but  was  sufficient  to  give  steerage-way,  and  with  the 
British  ensign  flying  at  the  peak  the  two  vessels  sailed  out 
of  the  inlet  and  joined  the  frigate,  which  began  to  make  sail 
as  soon  as  they  were  seen  issuing  from  the  narrow  mouth. 
Glad  indeed  were  all  on  board  the  three  vessels  when,  after 
a  voyage  unmarked  by  any  adventure,  they  entered  Port 
Royal,  for  although  the  negroes,  feeling  confident  that  they 
were  in  good  hands,  had  been  docile  and  obedient,  they  were 
still  terribly  in  the  way. 

Though  all  had  been  made  to  take  a  bath  every  morning, 
the  odour  in  the  crowded  prizes  was  almost  overpoweringly 
strong.  On  arrival,  the  negroes  were  landed  and  lodged  in 
some  large  government  storehouses  near  the  fort.  Each  was 
presented  with  ten  yards  of  cloth  on  leaving  for  the  shore,  and 
they  were,  before  being  housed,  permitted  to  sort  themselves, 
so  that  families  and  friends  might  be  together.  Interpreters 
explained  to  them  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  send  them 
back  to  their  friends  in  Africa,  but  that  they  would  be  appor- 
tioned out  among  the  plantations  of  the  island.  The  wages 
they  were  to  receive  were  explained  to  them,  and  they  were 
told  that  a  government  official  would  visit  each  plantation  in 
turn,  and  would  listen  to  any  complaints  that  might  be  made 
as  to  their  food  and  treatment,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years 
all  who  wished  it  could  either  change  masters  or  take  up  a 
piece  of  land,  build  a  hut,  and  cultivate  it  on  their  own 
account. 

The  poor  creatures  were  well  satisfied  with  this.  They 
were  overjoyed  at  being  united  to  their  relations  and  friends, 


72  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

and  to  know  that  they  would  still  be  together;  and  were 
assured  that  they  would  be  well  cared  for,  and  in  time  be  as 
much  their  own  masters  as  if  at  their  villages  in  Africa.  The 
schooner  was  sold ;  the  brigantine  was,  as  the  captain  had  ex- 
pected, bought  into  the  service ;  Mr.  Playford  was  offered  and 
accepted  the  command  of  her.  Mr.  Normandy  took  his  place 
as  second  lieutenant  of  the  Orpheus,  and  Mr.  Marston  received 
his  promotion  and  the  post  of  third  officer.  As  the  Cerf — 
which  was  the  name  of  the  brigantine  —  was  to  be  considered 
as  a  tender  of  the  frigate,  those  on  board  her  were  still  borne  on 
her  books.  Curtis  and  Glover  were  appointed  to  her,  with  a 
petty  officer  and  forty  men. 

The  pirates  were  tried  and  executed,  with  the  exception  of 
one,  who  was  a  mere  lad.  He  had,  he  asserted,  been  forced 
to  join  the  pirates  —  being  spared  by  them  when  the  rest  of 
his  comrades  had  been  murdered,  as  they  had  lost  their 
cook's  mate,  and  required  someone  to  fill  his  place.  This, 
however,  would  not  have  saved  his  life  had  he  not  promised 
to  lead  his  new  captors  to  the  chief  rendezvous  of  the  pirates, 
which  had  so  long  eluded  the  search  that  had  been  made  for 
it.  He  acknowledged,  however,  that  he  was  not  acquainted 
with  its  exact  position.  He  had  sailed  in  and  out  four  or 
five  times,  and  had  only  a  general  idea  of  its  position,  but 
asserted  that  he  should  certainly  know  the  island  if  he  saw 
it.  A  fortnight  after  reaching  Port  Royal,  the  frigate  and 
brigantine  sailed  in  company. 

The  indications  given  by  the  boy  pointed  to  an  island  lying 
a  short  distance  off  the  northern  coast  of  Venezuela. 

There  were  originally,  he  said,  four  vessels  working  to- 
gether, three  brigantines  and  a  large  schooner,  one  of  which 
had  arrived  from  France  only  a  short  time  before  the  Cerf 
sailed  on  her  last  voyage.  The  entrance  to  the  pirates'  strong- 
hold was  on  the  south  side  of  the  island,  and  was,  he  said, 


A  SHARP  FIGHT  73 

so  well  concealed  that  vessels  might  sail  past  the  place  a 
thousand  times  without  noticing  it.  There  were  two  batteries 
at  the  water's  edge,  inside  the  entrance,  each  mounting  twelve 
eighteen-pounder  guns  that  had  been  taken  from  prizes.  The 
channel  here  was  not  more  than  fifty  yards  across.  A  very 
heavy  boom  was  at  all  times  swung  across  it  just  above  the 
batteries,  and  this  was  opened  only  when  one  of  the  craft 
entered  or  left. 

There  was,  however,  he  said,  a  spot  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
island  where  a  landing  could  be  effected,  at  a  little  ravine  that 
ran  down  to  the  shore.  This  was  thickly  wooded,  and  some 
large  trees  growing  at  its  mouth  almost  hid  it  from  passing 
vessels.  At  other  points  the  shore  was  steep,  but  there  was 
so  much  vegetation  on  every  ledge  where  trees  or  bushes  could 
obtain  a  foothold,  that  from  the  sea  it  would  seem  that  the 
cliffs  were  not  too  steep  to  scale. 

The  prisoner  had  been  placed  on  board  the  Cerf,  which,  as 
soon  as  she  was  fairly  at  sea,  was  altered  as  far  as  possible  in 
appearance  by  a  white  band  with  ports  painted  along  her 
sides ;  a  false  stem  of  an  entirely  different  shape  from  her  own 
was  fastened  to  her,  her  light  upper  spars  sent  down  and 
replaced  by  stumpy  ones,  and  other  changes  made  that  would 
help  to  alter  her  appearance. 

Were  she  recognized  by  the  pirates  as  she  sailed  past  their 
island  it  would  at  once  be  suspected  that  one  of  the  men 
recently  captured  had  revealed  the  rendezvous,  and  that 
she  was  cruising  near  it  to  obtain  an  exact  idea  of  the  best 
mode  of  attack  before  other  craft  came  up  to  assist  her. 
They  had  no  doubt  that  the  pirates  had  already  received 
news  of  the  surprise  and  capture  of  the  brigantine.  Some 
of  the  men  who  escaped  would  doubtless  have  made  for  the 
nearest  port,  and  hired  a  negro  craft  to  take  them  to  their 
own  island,  which  they  would  have  reached  before  the  Orpheus 


74  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

arrived  at  Port  Royal  with  her  prizes.  The  pirates  would 
therefore  be  on  their  guard,  and  would  either  have  deserted 
their  head-quarters  altogether  or  have  added  to  their  de- 
fences. The  sight  of  their  late  consort  would  confirm  their 
fears  that  their  whereabouts  had  become  known,  and  it  was 
therefore  of  importance  that  her  identity  should  not  be 
suspected. 

Changed  as  she  now  was,  she  might  be  taken  for  a  man-of- 
war  brigantine.  Her  height  out  of  water  had  been  increased 
by  four  feet  by  painted  canvas  fastened  to  battens.  She  had 
ten  ports  painted  on  each  side,  and  looked  a  very  different 
craft  from  the  smart  brigantine  that  had  sailed  away  from  the 
island.  It  had  at  first  been  suggested  by  Mr.  Playford  that 
she  should  be  disguised  so  as  to  look  like  a  trader,  but 
Captain  Crosbie  had  decided  against  this. 

"  There  are,"  he  said,  "  three  of  these  pirates,  and  even  two 
of  them  might  together  be  more  than  a  match  for  you.  By  all 
accounts  they  are  each  of  them  as  strong  as  you  are  in  point  of 
armament,  and  would  carry  at  least  twice  as  many  men  as  you 
have.  Even  if  you  beat  them  off  it  could  only  be  at  a  very  great 
cost  of  life,  and  I  certainly  should  not  like  you  to  undertake 
such  an  enterprise  unless  you  had  at  least  double  the  strength 
of  men,  which  I  could  not  spare  you.  By  going  in  the  guise 
of  a  vessel  of  war  they  would  not  care  to  meddle  with  you. 
They  would  know  that  there  would  be  no  chance  of  booty  and 
a  certainty  of  hard  fighting,  and  of  getting  their  own  craft 
badly  knocked  about,  so  that  it  will  be  in  all  respects  best  to 
avoid  a  fight.  They  may  in  that  case  not  connect  you  with  us 
at  all,  but  take  you  to  be  some  freshly-arrived  craft.  You  had 
best  hoist  the  Stars  and  Stripes  as  you  pass  along  the  coast." 

When  the  changes  were  all  effected  the  ships  parted  com- 
pany. The  brigantine  was  to  sail  east  until  within  a  short 
distance  of  Grenada,  then  to  cruise  westward  along  the  coast 


A  SHARP  FIGHT  75 

of  the  mainland;  thus  going,  there  would  be  less  suspicion 
on  the  part  of  those  who  saw  fcer  that  she  was  coming  from 
Jamaica.  A  rendezvous  was  appointed  at  the  island  of  Oruba, 
lying  off  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  Venezuela. 

Their  prisoner  was  French,  and  he  was  very  closely  questioned 
by  Lieutenant  Playford,  who  spoke  that  language  well.  He 
said  that  they  always  sailed  north  to  begin  with,  then  some- 
times they  kept  east,  and  certainly  he  heard  the  names  of 
Guadeloupe  and  St.  Lucia.  At  other  times,  after  sailing  north 
they  steered  north-west,  and  came  to  a  great  island,  which  he 
had  no  doubt  was  San  Domingo.  It  was  not  in  this  craft  that 
he  sailed,  he  was  only  transferred  to  her  with  some  of  the 
others  for  that  cruise  only.  After  they  had  once  made  either 
the  western  islands  or  San  Domingo,  they  cruised  about  in 
all  directions. 

"  The  great  point  is,"  Mr.  Playford  said  to  the  midshipmen 
after  a  long  talk  with  the  prisoner,  "  that  at  starting  they 
generally  hung  about  these  islands,  Guadeloupe,  St.  Lucia, 
and  so  on,  for  some  time,  and  it  was  considered  their  best 
cruising  ground,  though  also  the  most  dangerous  one,  as  we 
have  always  some  cruisers  in  those  waters.  That  would  cer- 
tainly place  the  island  somewhere  off  the  north  coast  of  Caracas. 
He  declared  that  the  first  day  out  they  generally  passed  the 
western  point  of  an  island  of  considerable  size  with  some  high 
hills.  The  only  island  that  answers  to  that  account  is,  as  you 
see  in  the  chart,  Margarita.  Therefore  I  feel  convinced  that 
the  pirate  hold  is  in  one  of  these  groups,  off  Caracas,  either 
Chimana,  Borrshcha,  or  these  two  islets  called  Piritu  Islands. 
Altogether,  you  see,  there  are  over  a  dozen  of  these  islands 
scattered  along  near  the  mainland. 

"  It  is  quite  out  of  the  general  course  of  trade,  as  nothing 
would  go  into  that  bay  except  a  craft  bound  for  San  Diego, 
or  this  place  marked  Barcelona,  lying  a  short  distance  up  the 


76  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

river.  They  would  take  care  not  to  molest  any  of  the  little 
traders  frequenting  these  ports,  and  might  lie  in  an  inlet  in 
one  of  these  islands  for  years  without  their  being  ever  sus- 
pected, unless  perhaps  by  some  of  the  native  fishermen,  who 
probably  supply  them  with  fish  and  fruit  from  the  mainland. 
Anyhow,  I  don't  suppose  a  British  cruiser  is  seen  along  that 
coast  once  a  year." 


CHAPTER  V 

A  PIRATE   HOLD 

A  FORTNIGHT  later  the  Cerf  passed  along  under  easy 
sail  between  the  island  of  Margarita  and  the  mainland. 
She  was  now  getting  very  close  to  the  spot  where,  if  the  pris- 
oner was  right,  the  pirates'  hold  lay.  The  Stars  and  Stripes 
was  hanging  from  the  peak,  and  with  her  high  bulwarks  and 
ten  ports  on  each  side  no  one  would  have  suspected  that 
she  was  not,  as  she  seemed,  an  American  man-of-war,  heavily 
armed.  Passing  close  to  another  island,  they  headed  more 
south  into  the  bay  as  they  neared  Caracas.  Every  foot  of 
the  islands  was  closely  scanned.  Five  miles  farther,  they 
came  abreast  of  the  Chimana  isles,  and  pointing  to  one  of 
these  that  lay  nearer  the  shore  than  the  others,  the  prisoner 
exclaimed  that  he  was  certain  that  that  was  the  island. 

"I  am  sure  of  it,"  he  exclaimed,  "both  from  the  look  of 
the  island  itself,  and  from  that  high  range  of  mountains  on  the 
mainland  to  the  south-east." 

"You  are  quite  sure?" 

"  Certain,  captain ;  there  are  the  large  trees  I  spoke  of  grow- 
ing down  close  to  the  water.  It  is  behind  them  that  there  is 
a  little  ravine  by  which  one  can  climb  up." 


A  PIRATE   HOLD  77 

No  alteration  was  made  in  the  ship's  course,  but  she  con- 
tinued her  way  until  sunset,  when  she  dropped  anchor  off  the 
mouth  of  the  river  La  Pasqua,  some  twenty  miles  west  of  the 
islands. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  Curtis  was  sent  off  in  a  gig  manned 
by  six  rowers.  The  oars  were  muffled;  the  orders  were  to 
row  round  the  island  within  an  oar's  length  of  the  shore,  and 
to  find  the  entrance  to  the  channel,  which,  if  the  prisoner  was 
right  as  to  the  place,  should  be  on  the  side  facing  the  main- 
land. Pierre,  the  French  lad,  was  taken  with  them.  It  was 
a  long  row  to  the  island,  but  the  gig  was  a  fast  one,  and,  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  she  returned  with  the  news  that 
Pierre's  information  had  been  correct.  They  had  found  the 
opening  but  had  not  entered  it,  as  Mr.  Playford  had  given 
strict  orders  on  this  point,  thinking  it  probable  that  there 
would  be  a  sharp  look-out  kept  in  the  batteries,  especially 
as  the  supposed  cruiser  would  certainly  have  been  closely 
watched  as  she  passed. 

An  hour  later  the  anchor  was  got  up  and  the  Cerf  sailed  for 
Oruba,  off  which  she  arrived  three  days  later.  There  were  no 
signs  of  the  frigate,  and  indeed  the  Cerf  had  arrived  at  the 
rendezvous  before  the  time  fixed.  At  daybreak  on  the  third 
morning  the  topsails  of  the  Orpheus  were  made  out  from  the 
mast-head,  and  four  hours  later  she  and  the  Cerf  met,  and 
Mr.  Playford  went  on  board  the  frigate  to  report. 

"  This  is  good  news  indeed,"  the  captain  said  when  he  heard 
that  the  haunt  of  the  pirates  had  been  discovered.  "  Of  course 
you  have  taken  the  exact  position  of  the  island,  for  we  must, 
if  possible,  take  them  by  surprise  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir ;  it  lies  as  nearly  as  possible  in  64°  30'  west  longi- 
tude and  10°  22'  north  latitude." 

"We  will  lay  our  course  east,  Mr.  Playford,  for,  of  course, 
you  will  keep  company  with  us.  The  water  is  deep  all  along 


78  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

the  coast,  and  there  seems  to  be  from  thirty  to  thirty-eight 
fathoms  to  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  coast.  I  shall  lay  my 
course  outside  the  Windward  Islands  as  far  as  Blanquilla, 
thence  an  almost  due  south  course  will  take  us  clear  of  the 
western  point  of  Margarita  and  down  to  this  island.  We 
will  discuss  our  plan  of  attack  later  on." 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  after  leaving  Oruba  the 
island  of  Blanquilla  was  sighted.  The  frigate  made  the  signal 
for  Mr.  Playford  to  go  on  board,  and  on  entering  the  captain's 
cabin  he  found  him  and  Mr.  Hill  examining  the  chart 

"  You  see,  Mr.  Playford,  we  are  now  as  nearly  as  possible  a 
hundred  miles  north  of  the  island ;  with  this  wind  we  should 
pass  the  point  of  Margarita  at  about  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon ;  if  it  freshens  we  will  take  in  sail,  I  want  to  be  off  the 
island  say  three  or  four  hours  before  daybreak.  You  will  send 
that  French  lad  on  board  when  you  go  back ;  as  soon  as  we 
anchor  he  will  go  in  the  gig  with  Mr.  Hill  to  reconnoitre  and 
make  sure  that  there  is  no  mistake  about  the  place.  When 
he  finds  that  it  is  all  right  he  will  come  back.  The  boats  will 
be  in  the  water,  and  the  men  on  board  in  readiness,  and  will 
at  once  start,  so  that  the  landing  may,  if  possible,  be  effected 
just  at  daybreak  at  this  ravine  on  the  north  of  the  island. 
At  the  same  hour  you  will  sail  in  and  take  up  your  place 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  harbour,  and  fight  anything  that 
tries  to  come  out. 

"It  is  quite  possible  that  as  soon  as  our  party  attack  the 
place  on  the  land  side  any  craft  there  may  be  there  will  cut 
their  cables  and  try  to  make  off.  On  no  account  try  to  enter ; 
the  batteries  would  blow  you  out  of  the  water.  You  will  start 
as  soon  as  the  boats  leave  the  ship,  and  will  therefore  have 
light  enough  for  you  to  go  in  and  to  avoid  making  any  mistake, 
for  you  see  there  are  half  a  dozen  islands  lying  close  together. 
There  is  no  objection  to  their  seeing  you,  and  indeed  I  should 


A  PIRATE   HOLD  79 

be  rather  glad  if  they  do,  for  in  that  case  they  are  the  less  likely 
to  discover  the  landing-party,  and  though  they  must  see  the 
frigate  they  will  think  that  she  is  only  lying  there  to  cut  them 
off  if  they  try  to  escape.  They  will  be  manning  their  batteries 
and  getting  everything  ready  to  give  you  a  warm  reception,  and 
I  hope  that  we  shall  drop  upon  them  as  if  out  of  the  clouds. 

"  Mr.  Hill  will  command  the  landing-party,  which  will  con- 
sist of  a  hundred  and  fifty  seamen  and  the  thirty  marines, 
which,  with  the  advantage  of  surprise,  ought  to  be  sufficient. 
As  you  report  that  the  island  is  less  than  a  mile  long  and  not 
much  more  than  half  a  mile  across,  the  landing-party  will  soon 
be  at  work.  After  they  have  landed,  Mr.  Hill  will  divide 
them  into  two  parties,  and  will  endeavour  to  make  his  way 
round  the  inlet,  keeping  up  among  the  trees,  and  then  rush 
down  upon  the  batteries.  When  he  has  captured  these  he 
will  fire  three  guns  as  a  signal  to  you.  You  will  have  your 
boats  in  readiness,  and  will  at  once  tow  the  schooner  in, 
and,  on  reaching  the  boom,  bring  her  broadside  to  bear  upon 
any  craft  there,  and  generally  aid  the  landing-party  with  your 
guns.  If,  by  good  luck,  the  three  craft  we  have  been  so  long 
looking  for  are  all  there  you  will  have  a  strong  force  to  tackle ; 
you  may  certainly  take  it  that  their  crews  will  together  mount 
up  to  three  hundred  men,  and  it  is  likely  that  there  may  be 
a  hundred  others  who  form  what  we  may  call  the  garrison  of 
the  place  when  they  are  away." 

"  Very  well,  sir." 

The  two  vessels  headed  south  under  easy  canvas,  passed  the 
point  of  Margarita  at  the  hour  that  had  been  arranged,  and 
then  taking  in  still  more  sail  proceeded  slowly  on  until,  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  island  could  be  made  out  with 
the  night-glasses.  Then  both  were  laid  to,  Captain  Crosbie 
having  forbidden  anchoring,  in  the  first  place  owing  to  the 
great  depth  of  water,  and  in  the  next  because,  although  the 


80  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

island  was  three  miles  away,  the  chain-cable  running  out  might 
be  heard  at  night  if  the  pirates  had  anyone  on  watch  on  the 
hill.  Nat,  whose  watch  it  was,  saw  the  gig  shoot  away  from 
the  side  of  the  frigate.  An  hour  later  and  there  was  a  bustle 
and  stir  on  board  the  Orpheus,  and  all  her  boats  were  lowered. 
At  five  bells  the  crew  began  to  take  their  places  in  them,  and 
soon  afterwards  the  gig  returned.  The  watch  below  were 
called  up  and  sail  was  made,  and  at  half-past  three  the  boats 
started,  and  the  Cer/was  headed  towards  the  land.  Dawn  was 
just  breaking  when  they  reached  the  island.  All  was  still.  It 
had  been  arranged  that,  unless  discovered,  the  attack  on  the 
batteries  was  not  to  be  made  until  five  o'clock,  and  just  at  that 
hour  the  Cerf  arrived  off  the  narrow  entrance  to  the  port. 
Half  an  hour  before,  a  musket  had  been  discharged  on  the  hill 
above  them,  and  it  was  clear  that  their  coming  had  been  ob- 
served ;  but  as  no  sound  of  conflict  could  be  heard  inland  there 
was  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  pirates  had  no  suspicion 
of  a  landing  having  been  effected  on  the  other  side. 

"  That  is  what  I  call  being  punctual,"  Nat  said  to  Curtis  as 
two  bells  rang  out  just  as  they  opened  the  passage. 

A  light  kedge  anchor  was  dropped,  and  as  this  was  done  a 
patter  of  musketry  broke  out  from  the  hill  above  them.  Their 
action  showed  that  the  arrival  of  the  brigantine  was  no 
matter  of  chance,  but  that  she  was  there  expressly  with  the  in- 
tention of  attacking  the  pirates'  stronghold,  and  those  who  had 
been  watching  her,  therefore,  saw  that  any  further  attempt  at 
concealment  was  useless.  In  the  night  the  canvas  band  had 
been  taken  down,  as  there  was  no  longer  any  reason  for  con- 
cealing the  identity  of  the  brigantine.  The  musketry  fire  only 
lasted  for  a  minute,  for  suddenly  a  roar  of  battle  broke  out 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  mouth  of  the  entrance.  The 
sailors  burst  into  a  loud  cheer.  It  was  evident  that  the  landing- 
party  had  met  with  complete  success  so  far,  and  had  approached 


A  PIRATE   HOLD  81 

the  batteries  unobserved,  and  that  a  hand-to-hand  fight  was 
going  on. 

Above  the  cracking  of  pistols  the  cheers  of  the  seamen  could 
be  plainly  heard,  but  in  two  or  three  minutes  the  uproar  died 
away,  and  then  three  guns  were  fired  at  short  intervals.  The 
boats  were  already  in  the  water,  the  kedge  lifted,  and  the 
crews  bending  forward  in  readiness  for  the  signal. 

"  Take  her  in,  lads ! "  the  lieutenant  shouted,  and  the 
schooner's  head  at  once  began  to  turn  towards  the  inlet. 

A  moment  later  two  broadsides  were  fired. 

"  There  are  two  of  their  craft  in  there  ! "  Curtis  exclaimed. 
"  Now  our  fellows  have  carried  the  batteries  they  have  opened 
fire  on  them." 

As  he  spoke  there  was  another  broadside,  which  was  answered 
by  a  hurrah  from  all  on  deck.  It  was  clear  that  they  had  had 
the  good  luck  to  catch  all  the  pirates  at  once.  Three  minutes' 
rowing  and  the  boom  was  in  sight.  Mr.  Playford  called  to 
one  of  the  boats  to  take  a  rope  from  the  stern  to  the  battery 
on  the  right-hand  side,  and  ordered  the  others  to  cease 
rowing. 

"  We  have  way  enough  on  her  !  "  he  shouted.  "As  soon  as 
you  get  near  the  boom  take  her  head  round  to  port,  and  carry 
the  rope  to  shore.  You  can  fasten  it  to  the  chain  at  the  end 
of  the  boom." 

As  he  gave  the  order  a  gun  spoke  out  from  the  battery  on 
the  right,  followed  almost  immediately  by  one  on  the  left. 

"  They  are  slueing  the  guns  round  ! "  Nat  exclaimed.  ' '  We 
shall  be  having  our  share  of  the  fun  in  another  minute  or 
two." 

They  could  now  obtain  a  view  into  the  piece  of  water  inside 
the  passage.  It  was  nearly  circular,  and  some  three  hundred 
yards  across.  Two  brigantines  and  a  schooner  were  lying  in 
line,  within  fifty  yards  of  the  opposite  shore.  A  large  range 

6 


82  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

of  storehouses  stood  by  the  water's  edge,  while  the  hillsides 
were  dotted  with  huts,  and  dwelling-places  of  larger  size.  By 
the  time  that  the  brigantine  was  got  into  position  by  the  side 
of  the  boom  the  pirates  had  loaded  again,  and  several  shots 
struck  her. 

Her  guns  were  already  loaded,  and  those  on  board  poured 
a  broadside  into  the  brigantine  at  the  end  of  the  line.  The 
sailors  in  the  battery  were  working  with  might  and  main  to 
slue  all  the  guns  round  to  bear  upon  the  pirates.  On  the  hill- 
sides above  them  a  scattered  fire  of  musketry  was  being  kept 
up,  and  Mr.  Hill  hailed  the  schooner. 

"Mr.  Playford,  will  you  land  a  party  of  fifteen  men  on 
each  side  to  clear  the  hills  of  those  rascals?  I  don't  think 
there  are  many  of  them,  but  they  are  doing  us  a  good  deal  of 
damage,  for  they  can  hardly  miss  us  closely  packed  as  we  are 
here." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir.  You  hear  the  orders,  gentlemen.  Mr.  Curtis, 
you  land  with  fifteen  men  on  the  starboard  side,  and  do  you, 
Mr.  Glover,  take  the  party  that  lands  to  port.  Clear  the 
scoundrels  out — give  no  quarter!" 

The  boats  had  just  returned.  The  two  midshipmen  leapt 
into  them,  and  a  few  strokes  took  them  ashore. 

"  Up  the  hill,  lads  ! "  Nat  shouted.  "  Don't  fire  until  you 
are  at  close  quarters.  Give  them  one  volley  if  they  are  to- 
gether, then  sling  your  guns,  and  go  at  them  with  the  cutlass ! " 

There  was  but  little  fighting,  however,  for  there  were  only 
ten  or  twelve  pirates  on  either  side,  as  their  main  force  was 
distributed  between  the  batteries  and  the  ships.  They  were 
therefore  very  easily  driven  off,  five  or  six  of  them  being  killed 
and  the  rest  flying  with  all  speed  towards  their  village,  where 
those  who  had  escaped  from  the  batteries  were  already  going 
off  in  boats  to  the  ships.  The  two  midshipmen  therefore  re- 
turned to  the  schooner. 


A  PIRATE  HOLD  83 

"  Don*t  come  on  board  J "  Mr.  Playford  shouted.  "  See  if 
you  can  free  one  end  of  the  boom.  If  so  we  will  go  in  and 
engage  one  of  those  craft." 

It  was  found  that  the  boom  was  fastened  at  Nat's  side,  and 
the  chain  was  soon  unwound  from  the  stump  of  a  large  tree. 
Then  the  two  boats  together  got  hold  of  the  end  of  the  boom 
and  swung  it  round  so  that  the  schooner  could  pass.  The 
enemy  kept  up  a  heavy  fire  upon  them  while  they  were  doing 
this,  and  just  as  the  job  was  completed,  Curtis's  boat  was 
smashed  to  pieces  by  a  round  shot.  The  breeze  was  very  light, 
but  it  was  in  the  right  direction. 

"  Shall  we  tow,  sir  ?  "  Nat  called  to  his  commander. 

"  Certainly  not.     Get  your  men  on  board  at  once." 

The  sails,  which  had  been  loosely  furled,  were  dropped  again, 
and  the  brigantine  stole  past  the  batteries,  which  saluted  her 
with  a  rousing  cheer,  while  the  guns  were  worked  with  re- 
doubled energy  to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  pirates.  The 
Cerf  was  swept  with  round  shot  and  grape  by  the  guns  of  the 
three  piratical  craft,  but  the  distance  to  be  traversed  was  so 
small,  and  the  fire  from  the  battery  to  which  the  pirates 
working  their  guns  were  exposed  was  so  heavy,  that  the  men 
fired  wildly,  and  the  Cerf  suffered  less  than  might  have  been 
expected  while  crossing  the  intervening  two  hundred  yards  of 
water.  She  was  steered  straight  for  the  schooner,  and  as  her 
bowsprit  ran  in  between  the  pirate's  masts  the  crew,  who  had 
been  crouching  forward,  leapt  down  on  to  her  deck,  headed  by 
their  commander  and  the  two  midshipmen. 

The  pirates,  although  they  had  suffered  heavily,  were  still 
in  sufficient  force  to  offer  an  efficient  resistance,  but  their 
courage  had  been  shaken  by  the  suddenness  of  the  attack. 
They  had  lain  down  to  sleep  with  the  assurance  that  the  port 
was  unknown  and  unsuspected,  that  the  batteries  that  guarded 
it  could  sink  any  hostile  ship  that  attempted  to  enter,  and 


84  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

their  dismay  when  these  batteries  were  attacked  and  carried 
by  an  enemy  who  seemed  to  spring  out  of  the  earth,  and  their 
only  retreat  cut  off,  was  overwhelming. 

Already  the  heavy  guns  of  the  battery  had  done  terrible 
execution.  Two  of  the  guns  on  that  side  had  been  dismounted, 
and  a  third  of  the  crew  killed ;  consequently,  although  a  small 
portion  of  the  number  led  by  their  captain  fought  desperately, 
and  were  killed  to  the  last  man,  the  majority  leapt  overboard 
at  once  and  swam  ashore.  Leaving  ten  men  in  charge  of  the 
prize,  the  lieutenant  called  all  the  rest  back  on  board  the  Cerf, 
which  remained  in  the  position  in  which  she  had  run  head 
on  to  the  schooner,  and  she  was  now  able  to  bring  her  broad- 
sides into  play  upon  the  brigantines,  the  pieces  forward  raking 
them  from  stem  to  stern,  while  the  batteries  continued  their 
terrible  fire.  In  a  few  minutes  the  pirates  began  to  take  to 
the  boats,  which  were  lying  by  their  sides  just  as  they  had 
come  off  from  the  shore.  Once  begun,  the  movement  spread 
rapidly.  The  boats  were  soon  crowded,  and  those  who  could 
not  find  places  in  them  leapt  overboard. 

"  Take  the  boat  and  a  dozen  men,  Mr.  Curtis,  and  haul  down 
the  black  flag  of  the  craft  to  starboard ;  and  you,  Mr.  Glover, 
take  one  of  the  prize's  boats  and  do  the  same  to  the  other 
brigantine." 

They  turned  to  execute  the  order  when  all  on  board  the 
Cerf  were  hurled  to  the  deck  —  one  of  the  brigantines  had 
blown  up  with  a  tremendous  explosion,  that  brought  most  of 
the  huts  on  the  hillside  to  the  ground,  carried  away  both  masts 
of  the  Cerf,  and  drove  fragments  of  wreckage  high  into  the 
air,  whence  they  fell  partly  in  the  pool,  partly  on  shore.  For- 
tunately for  the  Cerf,  only  a  few  fragments  of  any  size  struck 
her  deck,  the  pieces  for  the  most  part  falling  in  a  wider  circle. 
Numbers  of  the  pirates  who  had  just  landed  from  their  boats 
were  killed,  and  many  more  were  injured  by  being  hurled  down 


A  PIRATE  HOLD  85 

on  to  the  rocks,  dazed  and  half-stunned.     Those  on  board  the 
Cerfwho  had  escaped  severe  injury  rose  to  their  feet. 

Not  more  than  twenty-five  did  so.  Lieutenant  Playford  lay 
dead,  crushed  under  a  mast ;  Curtis  had  been  hurled  against 
one  of  the  guns  and  his  brains  dashed  out ;  ten  of  the  sailors 
had  been  killed  either  by  the  falling  masts  or  by  being  dashed 
against  the  bulwarks ;  twelve  had  fallen  under  the  enemy's 
fire  as  the  Cerf  crossed  the  pool ;  twelve  others  were  hurt  more 
or  less  either  by  the  enemy's  missiles  or  by  the  shock.  It  was 
three  or  four  minutes  before  the  silence  that  followed  was 
broken.  Then  Mr.  Hill  hailed  across  the  water: 

"  Cerf  ahoy  I  have  you  suffered  much  ? " 

"  Terribly,"  Nat  shouted  back ;  "  Lieutenant  Playford  and 
Mr.  Curtis  are  both  killed.  We  have  only  twenty-five  men  in 
any  way  fit  for  service  left." 

"  If  you  have  got  a  boat  that  will  swim  send  it  ashore." 

Nat  looked  over  the  side,  the  boat  had  been  stove  by  a 
falling  fragment ;  then  he  crossed  to  the  prize,  and  found  that 
one  of  the  boats  was  uninjured.  Four  men  were  just  getting 
into  it,  when  Mr.  Hill  hailed  again : 

"  Let  them  bring  a  rope  with  them,  Mr.  Glover ;  we  will 
tow  you  over  here." 

The  end  of  a  hawser  was  put  into  the  boat,  and  the  men 
rowed  with  it  to  the  battery. 

"  Mr.  Glover !  "  the  lieutenant  again  hailed. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  I  am  sending  the  boat  back  again.  I  think  that  had  they 
put  a  slow  match  in  the  magazine  of  the  other  brigantine  it 
would  have  exploded  before  this.  However,  you  had  better 
remain  where  you  are  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  to  be  sure ;  then, 
before  you  move,  board  the  brigantine  and  flood  the  magazine. 
Otherwise,  as  soon  as  you  have  left,  some  of  these  desperadoes 
might  swim  off  to  her  and  put  a  match  there." 


86  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Very  well,  sir,  I  will  go  at  once  if  you  like." 

"No,  there  is  no  use  running  any  unnecessary  risk.  You 
had  better  flood  the  schooner's  magazine  first." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir." 

Taking  half  a  dozen  hands  with  buckets,  Nat  went  on  board 
the  prize  and  soon  flooded  the  magazine ;  then  he  and  those 
who  were  able  to  help  did  all  they  could  for  the  wounded, 
several  of  whom,  who  had  only  been  stunned,  were  presently 
on  their  legs  again.  When  the  quarter  of  an  hour  had  passed 
he  asked  for  volunteers.  All  the  survivors  stepped  forward. 

"  Four  men  will  be  enough,"  he  said.  "  Bring  buckets  with 
you." 

It  was  not  without  a  feeling  of  awe  that  Nat  and  the  four 
sailors  stepped  on  to  the  deck  of  the  brigantine,  for  although 
he  was  convinced  that  had  a  match  been  lighted  the  explosion 
would  have  taken  place  long  before,  as  it  was  now  five-and- 
twenty  minutes  since  the  crew  had  deserted  her,  neither  he 
nor  the  men  had  entirely  recovered  from  the  severe  shock  of 
the  explosion.  He  led  the  way  below;  all  was  quiet;  the 
door  of  the  magazine  was  open,  but  there  was  no  smell  of 
burning  powder,  and  they  entered  fearlessly. 

"All  right,  lads;  now  as  quick  as  you  like  with  your 
buckets." 

An  abundance  of  water  was  thrown  in ;  then,  to  make  quite 
certain,  Nat  locked  the  door  of  the  magazine,  and  put  the  key 
in  his  pocket.  A  cheer  broke  from  the  men  in  the  battery  as 
he  and  his  companions  again  took  their  places  in  the  boat  and 
rowed  to  the  Cerf.  He  was  hailed  again  by  Mr.  Hill. 

"  I  have  changed  my  mind,  Mr.  Glover ;  now  that  I  know 
there  is  no  risk  of  another  explosion,  I  think  perhaps  you 
had  best  remain  where  you  are.  We  will  give  you  a  pull  to 
get  you  free  of  the  schooner,  then  you  had  better  range  the 
Cerf  alongside  of  her;  keep  your  guns  and  those  of  the 


A   PIRATE    HOLD  87 

brigantine  both  loaded  with  grape ;  send  your  boat  ashore  to 
fetch  off  the  wounded." 

"  I  have  two  boats  now,  sir ;  one  of  the  brigantine's  was  left 
behind,  and  is  uninjured." 

"  Then  send  them  both  ashore,  the  sooner  we  get  the  wounded 
off  the  better.  I  am  going  to  move  forward  with  all  my  men ; 
we  have  spiked  the  guns  here,  and  if  they  should  come  down 
into  the  batteries  again  you  can  clear  them  out.  You  will,  of 
course,  help  us,  if  we  meet  with  strong  resistance,  with  your 
guns  on  the  shore-side." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

The  two  boats  were  sent  ashore,  and  the  wounded  came  off 
with  Dr.  Bemish.  As  soon  as  they  all  came  on  board  Nat  said  : 

"  I  will  leave  you  with  the  wounded  here,  doctor,  with  four 
of  my  men  to  help  you.  We  are  so  littered  up  that  we 
could  hardly  work  the  guns,  and  as  you  see,  three  of  them 
were  dismounted  by  the  explosion ;  besides,  the  prize  alongside 
would  hamper  us,  therefore  I  will  take  the  rest  of  the  men  on 
board  the  brigantine." 

"  I  think  that  will  be  a  very  good  plan,  my  lad,"  the  doctor 
replied.  "I  quite  agree  with  you,  that  with  the  spars  and 
wreckage  on  one  side  and  the  prize  on  the  other,  you  are 
practically  helpless." 

The  men  were  at  once  set  to  work  bringing  up  powder 
cartridges  from  the  magazine ;  grape  and  round-shot  they 
would  find  on  board  the  brigantine. 

In  ten  minutes  the  guns  of  that  craft  were  reloaded.  The 
two  bodies  of  men  from  the  batteries  had  by  this  time  reached 
the  storehouses.  Not  a  shot  had  been  fired,  but  a  minute 
later  there  was  a  loud  word  of  command,  followed  by  a  fierce 
yell,  and  in  a  moment  both  parties  were  engaged,  a  heavy  fire 
being  opened  upon  them  from  every  spot  of  vantage  on  the 
hillside  in  front  of  them. 


88  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Now,  my  lads,  give  them  a  dose  of  grape  !  "  Nat  shouted. 
"  I  expect  they  are  two  to  one  to  our  fellows  still.  Train 
them  carefully." 

Gun  after  gun  sent  showers  of  grape  among  the  hidden  foe, 
who  were  for  the  most  part  lying  behind  the  cactus  hedges  of 
the  gardens  that  surrounded  the  huts.  The  three  forward 
guns  assisted  Mr.  Hill's  party,  while  the  others  aided  that 
commanded  by  Needham.  Although  but  four  men  to  a  gun, 
the  sailors  worked  so  hard  that  the  pieces  were  discharged  as 
rapidly  as  if  they  had  been  manned  by  a  full  complement,  and 
their  effect  was  visible  in  the  diminution  of  the  enemy's  fire, 
and  by  the  line  of  smoke  gradually  mounting  the  hill,  showing 
that  the  pirates  were  falling  back,  while  the  cheers  of  the 
sailors  and  marines  as  they  pressed  steadily  upwards,  rapidly 
plying  their  muskets,  rose  louder  and  louder.  Near  the  upper 
edge  of  the  cleared  ground  the  pirates  made  a  stand,  but  the 
fire  of  the  guns  proved  too  much  for  them,  and  they  took  to 
the  forest.  Presently  a  sailor  ran  down  to  the  shore. 

"  The  first  lieutenant  says,  sir,  will  you  please  continue  your 
fire  into  the  forest  He  is  going  to  cut  down  all  the  hedges 
and  fire  the  huts,  so  that  they  will  have  to  pass  over  open 
ground  if  they  attack  again." 

"Tell  Mr.  Hill  I  will  do  so,"  Nat  shouted  back. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  fire  had  been  turned  in  that  direc- 
tion before  the  puffs  of  smoke  that  darted  out  from  the  edge  of 
the  forest  ceased  altogether.  The  sailors  could  now  be  seen 
slashing  away  with  their  cutlasses  at  the  lines  of  cactus  hedge, 
while  the  huts  that  still  stood  were  speedily  in  flames.  Num- 
bers of  women  and  children  now  came  down  to  the  shore, 
where  they  were  placed  in  charge  of  six  of  the  marines  and 
a  non-commissioned  officer.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  later, 
while  Nat  was  watching  what  was  going  on  on  shore,  one  of 
the  men  touched  him. 


A  PIRATE   HOLD  89 

"  Look,  sir,  they  are  going  down  to  the  batteries  ! " 

The  men  were  at  once  ordered  across  to  the  guns  on  the 
other  side,  and  these  opened  with  grape  upon  two  bodies  of 
pirates,  each  some  seventy  or  eighty  strong,  who  were  rushing 
down  to  the  batteries.  The  discharge  of  the  six  guns  did 
terrible  execution,  but  the  survivors  without  pausing  dashed 
down  to  the  works.  Cries  of  disappointment  and  rage  broke 
out  from  them  on  finding  the  guns  spiked,  and  before  they 
could  be  reloaded  they  ran  up  the  hill  again,  and  were  in 
shelter  in  the  forest. 

"  I  fancy  that  is  about  the  end  of  it,"  Nat  said  to  the  petty 
officer  standing  by  his  side.  "  I  don't  think  that  above  fifty  of 
either  party  got  safely  away." 

"  Not  more  than  that,  sir.  I  expect  it  has  taken  the  fight 
out  of  them." 

"  It  was  a  hopeless  attempt,  for  although,  if  the  guns  had 
been  loaded,  they  might  have  sunk  us,  our  fellows  on  shore 
would  soon  have  been  upon  them  again,  and  it  would  have 
come  to  the  same  thing." 

"  Yes,  sir,  the  same  thing  to  the  pirates,  but  not  the  same 
thing  to  us." 

"  No,  you  are  right  there ;  those  twenty-four  guns  loaded 
with  ball  would  have  sent  us  to  the  bottom  in  no  time.  You 
see,  our  men  only  used  grape  before,  and  aimed  at  the  decks." 

Mr.  Hill  now  hailed  from  the  shore  again : 

"  Mr.  Glover !  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir  !  " 

"  Have  the  goodness  to  send  your  boat  ashore,  I  want  to 
send  a  note  off  to  the  captain.  On  their  way  the  men  must 
stop  at  the  boats  on  the  other  side  of  the  island,  and  tell  the 
boat  keepers  to  bring  them  round  here  at  once." 

Four  men  were  sent  ashore  in  the  boat,  and  one  of  the 
petty  officers  took  his  place  in  the  stern,  with  a  hasty  note 


90  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

which  the  first  lieutenant  had  written  in  pencil  stating  that 
the  loss  had  been  very  heavy,  that  the  work  of  rooting  out 
the  pirates  had  not  yet  been  completed,' and  that  he  should 
be  glad  of  some  more  men  to  occupy  the  village  while  he 
searched  the  woods.  The  boat  started  at  once,  and  twenty 
minutes  later  the  captain's  gig  shot  into  the  cove.  As  soon  as 
the  report  of  the  first  gun  was  heard  on  board  the  frigate, 
and  there  was  no  longer  any  motive  for  remaining  at  a  dis- 
tance, her  head  had  been  turned  to  the  island,  and  the  boat 
had  met  her  but  half  a  mile  away  from  the  entrance. 

After  reading  the  note,  Captain  Crosbie  sent  one  of  the 
gigs  to  order  the  boats  round  to  the  inlet,  and  proceeded  in  his 
own  boat  to  investigate  the  state  of  affairs,  ordering  the  Cerf's 
boat  to  row  ahead  of  the  frigate,  which  was  to  work  in  under 
very  reduced  sail,  sounding  as  she  went,  and  was,  if  the  water 
was  deep  enough,  to  anchor  off  the  mouth  of  the  cove. 

"Then  you  found  all  the  pirates  here,  Mr.  Hill?"  the  captain 
said  as  he  landed. 

"  Yes,  sir,  but  they  blew  up  one  of  their  craft  when  they  left 
her." 

"  Yes,  of  course  we  heard  the  report ;  it  shook  the  frigate 
as  if  she  had  struck  on  a  rock.  It  must  have  been  tremendous 
here." 

"  Yes,  sir,  she  must  have  had  an  immense  deal  of  powder  in 
her  magazine;  the  shock  was  something  terrible.  Although 
we  were  over  there  in  that  battery,  every  one  of  us  was  thrown 
to  the  ground  and  several  were  killed.  Two  of  the  guns  were 
dismounted." 

"  It  was  a  veritable  battle  for  a  time,  Mr.  Hill.  It  sounded 
like  a  naval  engagement  on  a  large  scale." 

"  Yes,  we  had  twenty-four  guns  in  the  batteries  all  at  work, 
and  the  guns  of  the  Cerf,  while  the  three  pirates  had  the  same 
number  in  their  broadsides,  besides  two  heavy  swivel-guns." 


A   PIRATE   HOLD  91 

"  You  say  the  loss  is  heavy.     What  does  it  amount  to?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  exactly,  sir.  There  were  twenty-five 
killed  on  board  the  Cerf,  in  addition  to  Mr.  Playford  and 
Mr.  Curtis.  The  two  officers  and  about  half  the  men  were, 
Mr.  Glover  reported,  killed  by  the  explosion,  which,  as  you 
see,  dismasted  her." 

"  Dear  me  !  That  is  heavy  indeed,  and  I  most  deeply  regret 
the  death  of  the  two  officers." 

"  So  do  I  indeed,  sir.  Mr.  Playford  was  an  excellent  officer, 
and  as  good  a  fellow  as  ever  walked.  Mr.  Curtis  would  have 
made,  I  am  sure,  a  good  officer  in  time.  I  hardly  thought  he 
would  when  he  first  joined,  but  he  was  improving  greatly,  and 
he  showed  great  courage  in  working  to  remove  the  boom 
under  a  very  heavy  fire  from  the  pirates,  which  sunk  his  boat 
under  him." 

"  Your  division,  Mr.  Hill  —  what  are  your  casualties  ?  " 

"  We  took  the  batteries  almost  without  loss,  sir,  but  in  the 
duel  with  the  pirates  we  lost  in  the  two  batteries  fourteen 
killed;  nine  more  were  killed  by  the  explosion;  we  sent 
eighteen  off  to  the  Cerf  all  seriously  wounded;  as  to  con- 
tusions and  minor  hurts,  I  should  say  that  there  is  not  a  man 
who  escaped  them." 

"Well,  well,  that  is  a  heavy  bill  indeed;  forty-eight  men 
killed  and  two  officers  —  why,  we  should  probably  have  lost 
less  in  an  action  against  a  frigate  of  our  own  size  !  However, 
we  have  destroyed  this  nest  of  pirates,  and  have  captured 
three  of  their  four  ships,  the  other  is  blown  up.  Now,  what 
is  the  state  of  things  here?" 

"  There  are,  I  believe,  some  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hun- 
dred of  the  pirates  still  on  the  island.  They  are  divided  into 
two  parties,  and  the  last  firing  you  heard  was  when  they 
rushed  down  into  the  batteries,  thinking,  no  doubt,  to  take 
revenge  by  sinking  the  brigantine  and  the  two  prizes.  Mr. 


92  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Glover  opened  fire  upon  them  with  grape  with  great  effect. 
When  they  got  into  the  battery  they  found  that  I  had  spiked 
the  guns,  which  I  did  when  I  left  them,  thinking  they  might 
make  just  such  a  move.  I  sent  off  to  you,  sir,  in  order  that 
the  storehouses  and  buildings  might  be  held  while  we  cleared 
the  wood  on  one  side  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  cove.  When 
we  have  done  that  we  can  do  the  same  on  the  other  side." 
" Did  you  have  any  casualties  in  taking  the  village?" 
'•'Several  wounded,  sir,  none  killed.  Mr.  Glover  drove 
them  out  with  grape,  and  so  rendered  our  work  comparatively 
easy.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  almost  the  last  shot  fired  by 
them  hit  Mr.  Needham  high  up  in  the  left  arm.  The  doctor 
came  ashore  a  few  minutes  ago,  after  attending  to  the  wounded 
sent  on  board  the  Cerf.  He  examined  the  arm,  and  tells  me 
that  the  bone  is  completely  smashed,  and  that  he  must 
amputate  it  half-way  between  the  elbow  and  shoulder." 

"That  is  bad  indeed.  However,  it  is  better  than  if  it  had 
been  his  right  arm.  Mr.  Harpur,"  said  the  captain  to  the 
midshipman  who  had  come  ashore  with  him,  "take  the  gig 
off  and  meet  the  boats.  Tell  the  launch  and  pinnace  to  go 
alongside  the  frigate,  and  request  Mr.  Normandy  to  send  Mr. 
Marston  ashore  with  fifty  more  men.  What  on  earth  are  we 
to  do  with  these  poor  creatures?"  he  went  on  to  the  first 
lieutenant  as  the  gig  rowed  away.  "Of  course  we  must  take 
them  to  Jamaica.  Theirs  is  a  terrible  position.  No  doubt 
they  have  all  been  captured  in  the  prizes  the  villains  have 
taken,  and  most  of  them  must  have  seen  their  husbands  or 
fathers  murdered  before  their  eyes.  Some  of  them  may  have 
been  here  long  enough  to  become  accustomed  to  their  lot, 
many  of  them  may  have  been  captured  lately.  What  is  to 
become  of  them  I  don't  know. 

"You  have  not  opened  any  of  the  storehouses  yet?" 

"No,   sir,  we  have  been  pretty  busy,  you  see.      We  cut 


THE   NEGRO    RISING  93 

down  all  the  cactus  hedges  round  the  huts  high  up  on  the  hill, 
so  as  to  keep  the  pirates  from  working  down  and  making  a  fresh 
attack  upon  us.  As  to  the  other  houses,  I  have  given  strict 
orders  that  no  one  is  to  enter  them.  The  men  have  piled 
arms  and  are  lying  down  by  them ;  many  of  them  have  not 
completely  recovered  from  the  shock  of  the  explosion,  and  all 
are  bruised  more  or  less  by  being  hurled  on  to  the  rocks  or 
against  the  guns.  I  fancy  the  doctor  will  have  his  hands  full 
for  many  a  day." 

"  Well,  you  must  pick  out  twenty  or  so  from  those  most  fit 
for  duty.  They  can  join  the  men  I  sent  for  and  finish  the 
business.  The  rest  can  be  on  guard  here,  in  case  the  party  on 
the  other  side  take  it  into  their  heads  to  make  an  attack." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   NEGRO   RISING 

WHILE  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements, 
Captain  Crosbie  went  on  board  the  Cerf.  The  wounded 
had  all  been  carried  below,  where  cots  had  been  slung  for  them. 
After  their  wounds  were  dressed,  he  went  round  saying  a  few 
words  to  each,  enquiring  into  the  nature  of  their  injuries. 
No  attempt  had  been  made  to  remedy  the  confusion  on  deck, 
except  that  the  bodies  of  those  that  could  be  moved  had  been 
laid  side  by  side.  That  of  Mr.  Playford  and  the  others  who 
had  been  crushed  by  the  falling  masts  still  lay  beneath  them, 
as  the  four  men  left  on  board  were  unable  to  do  anything  to 
extricate  them  until  help  arrived.  The  captain  then  went  on 
board  the  prize. 

"  Mr.  Hill  has  spoken  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  service 


94  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

that  you  have  rendered,  Mr.  Glover,  though  I  have  not  yet 
heard  the  full  details.  As  the  only  surviving  officer  of  the 
Cerf,  you  had  better,  when  you  have  time,  draw  out  a  full 
report  for  me  of  the  work  done  by  her.  It  will  be  another 
half-hour  before  we  again  commence  operations  against  the 
pirates,  and  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  go  on  board  the 
Cerf  with  your  men  and  endeavour  to  get  the  body  of  Mr. 
Playford  and  the  others  from  underneath  the  masts.  Nothing 
more  can  be  done  at  present,  but  it  is  painful  that  they  should 
be  lying  there.  I  fancy  that  with  hand-spikes  you  will  have 
no  very  great  difficulty  in  raising  the  butt  of  the  mast  high 
enough  to  draw  the  bodies  from  under  it.  As  soon  as  you 
have  done  that,  bring  the  men  back  here.  When  the  advance 
begins  you  will  shell  the  wood  ahead  of  it." 

"  We  will  put  you  ashore  first,  sir ;  this  is  the  only  boat  we 
have  that  will  float." 

Captain  Crosbie  on  landing  went  among  the  women,  who 
were  between  seventy  and  eighty  in  number.  Some  burst 
into  tears  when  he  spoke  to  them,  others  seemed  dazed  and 
quite  unconscious  that  they  were  being  addressed.  Feeling 
almost  unmanned  by  the  moving  spectacle,  Captain  Crosbie 
was  relieved  when  the  two  boats  filled  with  men  entered  the 
mouth  of  the  cove.  As  soon  as  they  came  alongside,  the  men 
leapt  out  in  high  spirits  at  the  prospect  of  having  a  share  in 
the  fray.  Mr.  Hill  had  already  picked  out  twenty  of  his  own 
party. 

"  I  will  myself  take  the  command  here,  Mr.  Hill.  I  don't 
wish  to  interfere  with  the  credit  that  you  will  gain  by  this 
affair,  therefore  I  leave  the  arrangement  of  your  party  in 
your  hands." 

Mr.  Hill  marched  the  seventy  men  straight  up  the  hill. 

"You  will  march  straight  on,  Mr.  Marston,  until  you  reach 
the  edge  of  the  cliff,  then  you  will  return.  See  that  the  men 


THE   NEGRO    RISING  95 

are  placed  at  regular  intervals.  You  will  then  face  to  the  right 
and  the  line  will  advance.  No  quarter  will  be  given,  except 
to  men  who  throw  down  their  arms  and  beg  for  it.  I  do  not 
suppose  that  many  will  do  so,  as  they  know  what  their  fate 
will  be  if  they  are  taken  to  Port  Royal.  We  have  reason  to 
believe  that  there  cannot  be  more  than  eighty  or  so  on  this 
side,  but  if  they  keep  in  a  body  and  make  a  rush  at  the  line 
they  will  no  doubt  be  able  to  break  through.  However,  that 
we  must  risk,  and  I  hardly  think  that  they  will  attempt  it, 
for  they  know  that  they  must  sooner  or  later  fall  into  our 
hands.  They  will  only  starve  if  they  conceal  themselves. 
Some  may  prefer  death  in  that  way,  or  may  think  that  after 
we  have  left  they  may  manage  to  get  taken  across  to  the 
mainland  in  native  fishing-boats.  However,  search  the  ground 
closely.  These  men  are  steeped  in  blood ;  they  have  been  the 
scourge  of  these  seas  for  the  past  five  or  six  years,  and  have 
never  yet  shown  mercy." 

Mr.  Hill  then  placed  himself  in  the  centre  of  the  line,  while 
Mr.  Marston  again  took  his  place  on  the  right.  It  was  not  until 
they  had  worked  round  nearly  to  the  entrance  that  opposition 
was  met  with ;  then  they  came  upon  a  spot  where  a  mass  of 
rock  cropped  up  among  the  trees,  and  as  they  approached  this 
a  sharp  fire  of  musketry  broke  out.  Mr.  Hill  ordered  the  two 
ends  of  the  line  to  advance  so  as  to  form  a  semicircle  round 
the  rock.  When  they  were  in  position  he  gave  the  word  to 
charge,  and  with  a  cheer  the  sailors  dashed  forward.  Led  by 
their  officers,  they  scrambled  up  the  rocks  like  cats,  discharged 
their  muskets  into  the  pirates  grouped  on  its  summit,  and 
then  threw  themselves  upon  them  cutlass  in  hand.  In  three 
minutes  all  was  over ;  not  a  man  asked  for  mercy,  but  all  died 
fighting  desperately  to  the  end.  Four  of  the  sailors  were 
killed,  several  severely  wounded.  These  were  carried  or  helped 
down  to  the  shore,  and  the  rest  of  the  party  then  scattered 


96  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

through  the  woods ;  but  the  closest  search  failed  to  discover  a 
single  man  in  hiding,  although  only  some  fifty  of  them  had 
been  accounted  for.  Returning  to  the  point  from  which  they 
had  started,  the  party  then  proceeded  to  search  the  forest  at 
the  other  side  of  the  cove. 

Here,  however,  they  met  with  no  resistance.  A  few  dead 
were  found,  but  the  forest  was  deserted.  After  searching  in 
vain  for  some  time  it  was  concluded  that  the  survivors  had 
probably  gone  down  the  face  of  the  cliff  and  hidden  there 
in  caves  or  in  thickets  in  places  that  could  only  be  reached  by 
men  well  acquainted  with  the  ground. 

After  two  hours'  vain  search,  Mr.  Hill  led  the  party  down 
to  the  shore  again.  While  he  had  been  away  the  captain  had 
had  the  storehouses  opened.  These  were  filled  with  booty  of 
all  kinds,  the  plunder  of  at  least  fifty  ships,  as  they  judged 
by  the  chronometers,  the  marks  on  bales,  and  other  articles. 
Here  were  thousands  of  cases  of  wine,  ranges  of  barrels  of  rum, 
hogsheads  of  sugar,  coffee,  and  other  colonial  produce,  quan- 
tities of  bales  of  cotton  cloths  used  for  the  slaves,  furniture 
of  all  kinds,  enormous  numbers  of  trunks  and  boxes  containing 
wearing  apparel,  bales  of  silks  and  satins,  and  an  immense 
amount  of  table-linen. 

In  the  centre  of  one  of  the  storehouses  was  a  chamber  con- 
structed of  stone  four  feet  thick  with  an  arched  roof.  The 
entrance  was  closed  by  two  iron  doors,  one  within  the  other, 
and  these  were  so  strong  that  it  was  necessary  to  drag  up  a 
six-pounder  cannon  to  batter  them  in.  When  at  last  an  en- 
trance was  forced,  the  strong-room  was  found  to  contain 
upwards  of  seventy  thousand  pounds  in  coin,  hundreds  of 
watches,  and  a  large  amount  of  jewellery,  much  of  which  was 
of  Spanish  manufacture,  and  a  great  many  church  vessels  and 
ornaments  of  silver.  It  was  evident  that,  although  no  doubt 
a  certain  proportion  of  the  spoil  had  been  divided  at  the  time 


THE   NEGRO   RISING  97 

of  capture,  the  main  bulk  had  been  stored  there  for  division 
some  day  when  the  haunt  should  be  finally  abandoned.  The 
sailors  now  set  about  examining  the  bodies  of  the  pirates  who 
had  been  killed  on  the  shore  by  the  explosion.  It  was  found 
that  in  almost  every  case  they  wore  belts  under  their  clothes, 
and  that  these  contained  from  ten  to  a  hundred  pieces  of  gold. 
A  systematic  search  was  then  made,  and,  in  all,  the  money 
found  upon  the  dead  pirates  amounted  to  six  thousand  pounds, 
which  was  added  to  the  store  taken  from  the  treasury. 

The  work  of  emptying  the  storehouses,  getting  up  jury-masts 
on  board  the  Cerf,  and  doing  the  absolutely  necessary  repairs  to 
her  and  the  prizes  occupied  three  days.  The  women  had  been 
placed  in  the  brigantine  after  the  craft  had  been  thoroughly 
washed  down  and  scoured,  and  she  had  been  taken  out  and 
anchored  near  the  frigate,  to  which  the  wounded  had  all  been 
conveyed  as  soon  as  the  fight  was  over.  On  the  evening  of 
the  third  day  the  storehouses  and  other  buildings  still  standing 
were  all  burned,  the  cannon  were  taken  on  board  the  frigate, 
and  the  next  morning  the  four  vessels  got  up  sail  and  started 
in  company  for  Jamaica.  Nat  was  left  in  command  of  the 
Cerf  with  fifteen  men.  Low  was  in  command  of  the  schooner 
with  twelve  men.  Mr.  Marston  had  charge  of  the  captured 
brigantine  with  fifteen  men,  all  that  could  be  spared  from  the 
diminished  crew  of  the  frigate.  Nat  had  had  time,  when 
the  long  day's  work  was  over,  to  row  off  every  evening  to 
see  Needham,  whose  arm  had  been  amputated  an  hour  after 
the  fight  was  ended.  He  was,  the  doctor  said,  going  on  well, 
and  was  in  very  good  spirits. 

"This  is  sure  to  give  me  my  step,"  he  said  to  Glover.  "I 
shall  have  served  my  time  in  six  months,  and  Marston's  rank 
will  of  course  be  confirmed,  now  that  poor  Playford's  death  has 
made  the  vacancy  permanent.  You  have  another  year  to  serve, 
have  you  not,  Glover?" 

7 


98  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Yes,  rather  more.  However,  of  course  this  affair  will  help 
me  too,  as  soon  as  I  have  passed." 

"  It  ought  to,  old  fellow,  considering  you  were  the  only 
officer  left  on  board  the  Cerf,  and  that  you  unfastened  the 
boom  under  that  tremendous  fire,  to  say  nothing  of  carrying 
the  schooner  and  running  the  risk  of  being  blown  up  when 
you  went  on  board  the  brigantine.  You  will  get  your  swab 
as  soon  as  you  have  passed.  You  see  it  has  been  a  big  thing ; 
fifty-eight  men  killed  and  a  hundred  and  four  put  down  as 
wounded ;  and  the  breaking  up  of  this  pirate's  nest  makes  it 
the  most  important  affair  there  has  been  out  here  for  years. 
The  other  ships  on  the  station  will  all  feel  quite  jealous  of  us. 
There  will  be  a  goodish  bit  of  prize-money,  too,  which  is  not 
to  be  despised.  Over  eighty  thousand  pounds  in  gold  and,  I 
should  say,  over  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  goods,  makes  even 
a  midshipman's  share  something  considerable.  How  is  your 
arm,  Glover  ?  " 

"  Well,  it  has  been  hurting  me  a  bit.  I  am  not  conscious 
of  having  used  it  particularly,  but  I  suppose  when  I  was 
thrown  down  by  that  explosion  it  must  have  got  wrenched 
somehow." 

"  Well,  if  I  were  you  I  would  ask  Dr.  Bemish  to  have  a  look 
at  it." 

Glover  did  so.  It  was  black  and  blue  from  the  shoulder 
down  to  the  elbow,  and  very  tender  to  the  touch. 

"  I  don't  think  anything  is  broken,"  the  doctor  said,  "  but  it 
has  been  a  very  close  shave.  At  any  rate,  k  is  just  as  well 
that  I  should  put  on  splints  and  bandage  it,  and  you  must  take 
to  your  sling  again  and  keep  to  it  for  some  time.  It  is  not 
tender  above  the  shoulder,  is  it?" 

"No,  doctor;  I  think  it  is  all  right  there." 

"  That  is  lucky.     You  ought  to  go  on  the  sick-list." 

"  I  cannot  do  that,  sir.     It  would  be  giving  up  the  command 


THE   NEGRO   RISING  99 

of  the  brigantine,  and  I  would  put  up  with  anything  rather 
than  that." 

They  had  fine  weather  and  a  leading  wind  to  Jamaica,  and 
their  arrival  there  with  the  two  captured  prizes  and  the  news 
that  the  piratical  haunt  had  been  completely  destroyed,  created 
quite  a  sensation,  which  was  heightened  by  the  rescue  of  so 
many  females  from  the  hands  of  the  pirates.  Some  fifteen  of 
these  found  friends  in  the  island,  and  the  scene  when  they 
were  handed  over  to  them  was  painful  in  the  extreme.  A 
third  of  the  number  were  French,  and  there  were  also  some 
eighteen  Spaniards.  All  were  temporarily  taken  in  and  cared 
for  by  families  at  Port  Royal,  and  were  sent  off  as  soon  as 
opportunity  offered  either  to  the  islands  for  which  they  had 
been  bound  when  captured,  or  to  their  friends  in  Europe. 

Mr.  Hill,  in  his  report,  had  done  full  justice  to  the  work 
done  by  the  Cerf,  and  had  mentioned  Nat's  going  on  board 
the  brigantine  to  drown  her  magazine,  and  the  great  service 
that  he  had  rendered  in  covering  the  advance  of  the  sailors  by 
the  guns  of  that  craft,  and  in  inflicting  such  heavy  punishment 
upon  the  two  parties  that  had  attempted  to  possess  themselves 
of  the  batteries,  and  the  admiral  sent  for  him  and  personally 
congratulated  him  on  his  work. 

"  I  will  see  that  as  soon  as  you  have  passed,  Mr.  Glover, 
you  shall  have  your  commission  as  acting  lieutenant.  I  have 
not  forgotten  what  Captain  Crosbie  told  me  of  your  gallant 
action  at  Cape  Francois." 

Mr.  Hill  was  at  once  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  frigate 
whose  captain  had  died  of  yellow  fever,  and  received  the  rank 
of  commander  pending  its  confirmation  from  home ;  and  Mr. 
Philpot,  second  lieutenant  of  that  frigate,  was  appointed  first 
lieutenant  of  the  Orpheus  in  his  place.  The  schooner  and  the 
Cerf  were  sold,  for  the  latter  had  suffered  so  much  damage 
forward  by  the  fire  concentrated  upon  her  by  the  pirates' 


100  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

ships  that  she  was  considered  unfit  for  further  service.  The 
other  brigantine  was  bought  into  the  service.  The  plunder 
taken  was  sold  by  auction,  and  the  proceeds,  together  with  the 
sum  fetched  by  the  three  prizes,  brought  the  total  up  to  one 
hundred  and  five  thousand  pounds,  a  larger  sum  than  had  ever 
been  captured  by  any  vessel  on  the  station. 

The  new  brigantine  was  re-christened  the  Falcon,  and  Mr. 
Low  was  placed  in  command,  with  two  midshipmen  from 
other  ships  on  the  station  under  him.  She  was  not,  like  the 
Cerf,  a  tender  to  the  Orpheus,  as  the  frigate  could  no  longer 
spare  a  crew  for  her,  having,  in  addition  to  the  loss  in  action, 
been  obliged  to  send  thirty  men  to  hospital  on  shore.  The 
brigantine  was  therefore  manned  by  drafts  from  other  ships  of 
war  on  the  station.  Needham  was  also  left  on  shore,  being 
promoted  at  once  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  which  left  Nat 
for  the  time  senior  midshipman  of  the  Orpheus,  which  was 
now  directed  to  cruise  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hayti,  where 
complaints  had  been  received  of  vessels  being  missing. 

Two  months  after  leaving  Jamaica  the  Orpheus  again  put  in 
to  Cape  Francois.  Nat  was  still  wearing  his  arm  in  a  sling. 
There  had  been  a  good  deal  of  swelling  and  inflammation, 
but  this  had  now  abated,  and  in  his  opinion  his  arm  was 
perfectly  well  again,  but  the  doctor  insisted  that  he  should  as  a 
precautionary  measure  still  use  the  sling.  The  frigate  needed 
some  repairs,  having  carried  away  some  spars  in  a  hurricane 
a  week  previously,  and  on  the  day  of  their  arrival  the  captain 
sent  for  Nat,  and  said  kindly  : 

"  We  shall  be  here  for  a  week,  Mr.  Glover,  and  the  doctor 
thinks  that  another  run  among  the  hills  will  do  you  good, 
therefore  you  can  go  and  stay  with  your  friends  there  until 
we  sail  again.  If  you  return  this  day  week  that  will  do. 
You  have  stuck  to  your  work  well,  for  Doctor  Bemish  said 
that  for  the  first  month  at  least  you  ought  to  have  been  on 


THE   NEGRO    RISING  101 

the  sick-list,  and  at  any  rate  you  deserve  a  holiday  for  your 
share  in  that  fight." 

On  landing  Nat  went  first  to  Monsieur  Duchesne's  office. 
The  planter  had  but  just  driven  in,  and  his  horte  and  trap  were 
still  standing  at  the  door.  The  negro  driver  gave  a  friendly 
grin  as  he  saw  him. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  sah,  bery  glad ;  eberyone  will  be  glad. 
Hope  you  all  well,  sah?" 

"  Thank  you,  Caesar.  All  well  at  the  plantation,  I  hope  ?  " 
and  he  went  into  the  office,  where  he  was  most  warmly 
received  by  Monsieur  Duchesne. 

"  I  had  been  told  that  your  ship  came  into  port  at  day- 
break, my  dear  Monsieur  Glover,  and  I  should  have  come  off 
to  ask  after  you  as  soon  as  I  had  answered  my  letters,  and  to 
carry  you  off  if  the  captain  would  give  you  leave.  But  I  see 
your  arm  is  still  in  a  sling.  You  have  not  hurt  it,  I  hope  ? " 

"  I  hurt  it  in  that  fight  we  had  with  the  pirates.  I  dare  say 
you  heard  of  it." 

"  Everyone  has  heard  of  it,"  the  planter  said.  "  It  was 
splendid,  and  there  is  not  one  here  who  does  not  feel  grateful 
indeed  to  your  ship  for  having  rid  us  of  all  those  scoundrels, 
who  have  been  doing  us  so  much  harm  for  years.  You  have 
not  hurt  it  much,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  It  was  bad  for  a  bit,  but  it  is  all  right  again  now.  The 
doctor  orders  me  to  keep  to  the  sling  for  some  time  longer, 
though  I  am  sure  there  is  not  the  least  necessity  for  it." 

"And  now  about  your  leave,  shall  I  go  off  to  the  ship, 
think  you?" 

"  The  captain  himself  gave  me  leave  this  morning  for  a  week 
without  my  even  asking  for  it." 

"  That  is  good  news  indeed.  My  carriage  is  at  the  door ; 
I  fortunately  told  Caesar  to  wait,  as  there  are  some  things  to 
take  back,  My  wife  and  Myra  will  be  delighted  to  see  you, 


102  A   ROVING    COMMISSION 

they  talk  of  you  always,  and  will  be  glad  indeed  to  have  you 
with  them  again.  My  boy  has  gone  out  to  buy  the  matters 
required  by  madame,  he  will  be  back  in  a  few  minutes." 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  Nat  was  on  his  way  out  to 
the  plantation,  where  he  was  received  with  a  welcome  of  the 
warmest  kind  by  Madame  Duchesne  and  her  daughter.  Both 
were  greatly  concerned  at  finding  that  his  arm  had  again  been 
injured. 

"  It  is  hard  indeed,"  Myra  said,  "  that  I  should  be  so  well 
and  strong  again,  and  that  you  should  still  be  suffering  for 
what  you  did  for  me." 

"  I  do  not  think,"  he  said,  "  that  that  business  has  really  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  last  one.  A  pirate  ship  blew  up  close  to 
us ;  the  shock  was  tremendous.  The  masts  of  the  brigantine 
I  was  in  snapped  off  as  if  they  had  been  carrots,  everyone 
on  deck  was  thrown  down,  twelve  were  killed  outright,  and 
the  rest  of  us  were  all  a  great  deal  bruised  and  hurt.  The 
doctor  said  that  he  thought  my  arm  might  very  well  have 
been  broken  even  had  it  not  been  for  that  accident,  and  as  I 
came  off  better  than  most  of  the  others,  I  certainly  have  no 
reason  to  complain.  It  is  really  quite  well  again  now,  and  I 
can  use  it  for  almost  all  purposes.  I  consider  it  absurd  that 
I  should  wear  this  sling,  and  would  take  it  off  at  once,  only 
the  doctor  made  me  promise  that  I  would  generally  wear  it ; 
indeed,  on  board  I  always  took  my  arm  out  when  I  wanted  to 
use  it,  and  he  said  himself  that  a  certain  amount  of  exercise 
was  good  for  me." 

Monsieur  Duchesne  came  home  as  usual  just  at  sunset. 
Nat  noticed  that  at  dinner  he  was  evidently  preoccupied, 
though  he  endeavoured  to  join  in  the  conversation  as  cheerily 
as  usual.  After  the  ladies  had  left  the  table  he  said  : 

"  You  may  have  noticed  that  I  am  distrait,  Monsieur  Glover, 
but  it  is  an  anxious  time  for  all  of  us  on  the  island,  and  has 


THE   NEGRO    RISING  103 

been  so,  indeed,  for  some  time.  You  see  we  are  divided  into 
three  classes  :  there  are  the  pure  whites,  the  mulattoes,  and  the 
negroes,  and  even  these  are  subdivided.  There  are  the  old 
settlers,  men  who,  like  myself,  belong  to  noble  French  families, 
and  who,  I  hope,  keep  up  the  best  traditions  of  our  country ; 
there  are  the  poor  whites,  landless  men  who  are  discontented 
with  their  position,  and  hate  those  who  are  better  off,  while 
they  stand  aloof  from  the  mulattoes.  These,  again,  are  equally 
divided.  Many  of  them  are  rich  men  with  plantations.  They 
send  their  sons  and  daughters  over  to  France  to  be  educated, 
and  take  it  much  amiss  that  we,  who  are  of  pure  blood,  do 
not  associate  with  them.  Then,  again,  there  are  the  negroes, 
who  number  no  fewer  than  five  hundred  thousand,  while  we 
whites  are  but  forty  thousand.  We  went  on  well  enough 
together  until  the  States  General  met  in  France.  It  was  a 
bad  affair  that,  for  us  as  well  as  for  France.  From'  that  time 
there  has  been  a  ferment.  We  sent  over  deputies,  eighteen  of 
them,  but  the  Assembly  only  allowed  six  to  take  their  seats, 
and  while  they  snubbed  us,  the  young  mulattoes  were  treated 
with  the  greatest  favour. 

"  Then  came  the  news  that  the  Assembly  had  passed  a  dec- 
laration asserting  all  men  to  be  free  and  equal.  You  may 
imagine  what  a  shock  this  was  to  us.  Some  of  the  mulattoes, 
in  their  excitement,  took  up  arms  to  show  that  they  were  free, 
but  they  were  easily  put  down.  However,  when  the  National 
Assembly  heard  of  the  excitement  and  dissatisfaction  caused 
among  the  French  in  all  their  colonies,  they  made  another 
decree  authorizing  each  colony  to  elect  its  own  legislative 
assembly.  Our  assembly  here  lost  their  heads  on  finding  power 
in  their  hands,  and  passed  a  constitution  which  practically  re- 
nounced all  allegiance  to  France.  Some  riots  broke  out,  and 
things  would  have  been  very  serious  had  not,  on  the  eleventh 
of  October  last  year  (1790),  a  decree  been  passed  by  the 


104  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

National  Assembly  modifying  the  former  one.  However,  on 
the  fifteenth  of  May  they  passed  another,  declaring  all  people 
of  colour  in  the  French  colonies,  born  of  free  parents,  entitled 
to  vote  for  members  of  the  colonial  assembly,  and  to  be  elected 
to  seats  themselves. 

"  When  the  news  came  here  six  weeks  ago,  you  can  imagine 
the  excitement.  Meetings  were  held,  and  it  was  even  proposed 
to  throw  off  allegiance  to  France  and  to  hoist  the  British  flag 
instead  of  ours.  Happily  calmer  thoughts  came,  and  matters 
cooled  down,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  state  of  affairs 
is  critical.  The  mulattoes,  who  outnumber  the  whites,  do  not 
know  how  to  contain  themselves  with  joy,  and  disputes  between 
them  and  the  whites  take  place  daily.  Then  there  are  the 
negroes.  You  see,  the  decree  does  nothing  for  them.  It  is 
hard  to  know  what  the  negroes  think,  even  whether  they  care 
that  they  are  not  to  have  a  vote  is  not  known  to  us.  It  is  clear 
that  it  would  be  of  little  advantage  to  them,  and,  you  see,  no 
one  who  was  not  out  of  his  mind  could  think  of  giving  a  vote 
to  them,  for  their  vote  would  be  five  times  as  large  as  that  of 
the  whites  and  mulattoes  together.  We  should  have  an 
assembly  composed  entirely  of  slaves,  and  these  slaves  would 
at  once  vote  that  all  the  land  and  property  in  the  island 
should  be  divided  among  themselves.  What  think  you  of 
that,  Monsieur  Glover?" 

"  It  would  be  madness  indeed,"  Nat  agreed. 

"  Then,  you  see,  even  if  they  did  not  do  that  they  would 
declare  themselves  free,  and  we  should  all  be  ruined.  Sapristi  ! 
it  makes  one's  blood  cold  to  think  of  such  a  thing.  But,  never- 
theless, the  negroes  are  like  children,  they  can  be  led  by  a  little 
talk,  and  among  them  there  are  men  of  some  intelligence  who 
could  work  the  rest  up  to  a  state  of  madness.  I  do  not  say 
that  this  will  come  —  Heaven  defend  us  from  such  a  calamity !  — 
still,  monsieur,  you  will  comprehend  that  we  all  feel  as  if  we 


THE   NEGRO   RISING  105 

were  sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  volcano.  Such  strange  things 
happen.  What  may  not  occur  next?  You  will  understand 
that  I  do  not  talk  of  these  things  before  my  wife  and  child. 
They,  of  course,  know  about  the  past,  but  as  for  the  future 
they  do  not  trouble  themselves  at  all.  I  have  spoken  to  some 
of  my  friends,  and  they  laugh  at  the  idea  of  the  slaves  rising. 
They  say,  truly  enough,  that  they  are  far  better  treated  here 
than  in  your  British  colonies.  But  then  there  has  been  no 
revolution  in  England.  People  have  not  been  stirred  up  to  a 
state  of  excitement.  The  nation  has  not  lost  its  head,  as  in 
France.  I  say  that  it  is  possible  there  may  be  trouble  with  the 
slaves." 

"  Not  here,  surely,  monsieur?  Your  negroes  seem  to  me  to 
be  contented  and  happy,  and  I  am  sure  they  are  well  treated." 

"  That  is  undoubtedly  so ;  but,  as  I  told  you,  the  negroes  are 
like  children,  they  will  laugh  one  minute  and  scream  with 
rage  the  next.  There  is  never  any  saying  what  they  may  do. 
I  can  hardly  bring  myself  to  think  that  such  a  thing  could 
happen,  but  I  have  taken  to  carrying  pistols  in  my  pockets, 
and  I  have  stored  some  arms  in  that  closet  in  the  hall ;  at  least 
I  should  have  them  handy,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  house 
servants  will  remain  true,  and  I  hope  many  of  my  slaves.  It 
is  for  this  that  I  have  gathered  the  arms  together." 

"  But  surely  you  would  have  warning?" 

"  At  the  first  whisper  I  should,  of  course,  drive  my  wife  and 
child  down  to  the  town,  where  we  should  be  safe,  for  there  the 
whites  are  strong,  and  we  have  no  fear  of  an  attack.  However, 
we  must  trust  that  such  a  thing  may  never  happen,  or  that  if  it 
does,  it  may  be  in  the  far  distance.  But  come  when  it  will, 
everyone  should  receive  warning  in  plenty  of  time  to  make  all 
preparations.  It  seems  to  me  impossible  that  a  plot  of  any 
magnitude  could  be  passed  from  end  to  end  of  this  island, 
and  be  known  to  so  vast  a  number  of  negroes,  without  some  of 


106  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

them  warning  their  masters  of  the  danger,  for  there  are  tens 
of  thousands  who  are  almost  like  members  of  their  masters' 
families." 

"  I  should  say  it  is  quite  impossible  that  any  extensive 
plot  could  be  hatched  without  its  being  known  in  a  very  short 
time  to  everyone,"  Nat  agreed ;  "  and  in  any  case,  although 
those  who  live  far  in  the  interior  of  the  island  might  have 
reason  to  fear,  should  the  negroes  break  out,  I  can  hardly  think 
that,  within  little  more  than  an  hour's  drive  from  the  city,  you 
need  feel  any  uneasiness  whatever." 

"  No,  I  feel  that  there  ought  to  be  no  trouble  here,  at  any 
rate  unless  there  is  a  successful  insurrection  in  other  parts  of 
the  island ;  no  doubt  that  would  be  infectious  elsewhere.  But 
the  negroes  near  the  town  would  be  the  last  to  join  in  such 
a  movement,  for  they  might  be  sure  that  the  whites  there 
would  take  speedy  vengeance  on  all  within  their  reach.  How- 
ever, let  us  think  no  more  of  it  at  present;  my  wife  and 
Myra  will  be  wondering  what  we  can  find  to  talk  about  so 
long." 

Nat  lay  awake  for  some  time  that  night  thinking  of  what 
Monsieur  Duchesne  had  said.  He  had  heard  vaguely,  while 
he  was  there  before,  of  the  manner  in  which  the  revolution  in 
France  had  affected  the  island,  but  it  was  a  subject  that  was 
little  discussed  at  the  planter's.  Having  all  the  feelings  and 
prejudices  of  the  old  noblesst  of  France,  he  had  from  the  first 
been  opposed  to  the  popular  movement  in  Paris,  and  had  held 
himself  altogether  aloof  from  the  demonstration  on  the  island. 
The  subject  was  painful  to  him,  and  he  had  seldom  alluded  to 
it  in  his  family  circle.  It  seemed  to  Nat  inconceivable  that 
any  general  movement  could  be  planned  among  the  blacks 
without  warning  being  received  by  the  planters.  When  he 
went  out  next  day  he  looked  with  more  attention  than  before 
at  the  slaves  working  on  the  plantations.  It  seemed  to  him 


THE   NEGRO   RISING  107 

that  their  demeanour  was  quieter  than  usual;  the  mulatto 
overseers  seemed  to  pay  less  attention  to  them,  and  he  was 
surprised  to  come  upon  three  of  them  talking  earnestly  to- 
gether, whereas,  hitherto,  he  had  always  seen  them  on  different 
parts  of  the  estate. 

On  the  following  morning,  the  23rd  of  August,  Monsieur 
Duchesne  started  as  usual  soon  after  seven  o* clock,  for  the  heat 
was  now  intense,  and  it  was  dangerous  to  be  out  after  the  sun 
had  obtained  its  full  power.  An  hour  later  Nat  was  sitting  in 
the  verandah  behind  the  house  with  Madame  Duchesne  and 
Myra,  when  an  old  negress  ran  out ;  her  eyes  were  wide  open 
with  terror  and  excitement,  and  her  face  was  almost  pale. 

"  Madame  and  mam'selle  must  fly  and  hide  themselves !  "  she 
exclaimed.  "  Nigger  come  in  half  an  hour  ago  wid  news  dat 
slabes  rise  last  night  in  many  places  all  ober  de  country  and 
kill  all  de  whites.  Dinah  hear  dat  all  people  expect  dat,  only 
not  for  anober  two  days.  Oberseers  de  leaders  now.  Dey 
come  here  quick  wid  all  de  field  hands.  Not  a  moment  to  be 
lost.  Fly  for  your  libes  !  " 

"  Impossible ! "  Madame  Duchesne  exclaimed,  as  she  and 
Myra  sprang  to  their  feet  alarmed,  but  incredulous. 

"  It  may  be  true,  madame,"  Nat  exclaimed.  "  For  God's 
sake  run  with  Myra  in  among  the  shrubbery  there ;  I  will  join 
you  in  a  moment.  If  it  is  a  false  alarm  all  the  better ;  but  it 
may  be  true,  and  there  is  not  a  moment  to  lose.  Do  you  hear 
those  shouts?" 

A  burst  of  yells  and  shouts  rose  in  the  air  a  short  distance 
away. 

"  Run !  run  !  "  Nat  exclaimed  as  he  dashed  into  the  house, 
rushed  to  the  closet  in  the  hall,  seized  two  brace  of  pistols,  a 
sword,  and  half  a  dozen  packets  of  cartridges  for  the  pistols,  and 
then  ran  out  into  the  verandah  just  in  time  to  see  the  white 
dresses  of  the  ladies  disappear  into  the  shrubbery  close  to  the 


108  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

entrance  of  the  verandah.  Some  wraps  which  they  sometimes 
put  on  to  keep  off  the  evening  dew  when  they  were  sitting  out 
of  doors  were  hung  up  close  by  him.  Hastily  snatching  these 
off  their  hooks,  he  dashed  off  at  full  speed,  for  the  tumult  was 
now  approaching  the  front  of  the  house.  The  ladies  had 
stopped  just  within  the  cover  of  the  bushes.  "  Run  ! "  he  cried  ; 
"  there  is  not  a  moment  to  lose.  They  will  be  searching  for 
(us  as  soon  as  they  find  that  we  are  not  in  the  house." 

The  belt  of  foliage  extended  all  round  the  garden,  and, 
keeping  inside,  they  ran  to  the  other  end.  Fortunately, 
adjoining  the  garden  was  a  plantation  of  sugar-cane  which 
had  not  yet  been  cut,  for  although  the  greater  portion  of  the 
cane  is  cut  in  April,  freshly  made  plantations  planted  at  that 
time  are  not  fit  to  cut  until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year. 
The  canes  were  ten  feet  high,  and  as  the  rows  were  three 
feet  apart,  there  was  plenty  of  room  to  run  between  them. 
Scarcely  a  word  was  spoken  as  they  hurried  along.  The 
plantation  was  some  four  hundred  yards  across ;  beyond  it 
stretched  another  of  equal  size,  extending  to  the  edge  of  the 
forest.  The  canes  here,  which  had  been  cut  four  months  before, 
were  three  feet  high  ;  at  other  times  many  negroes  would  have 
been  at  work  hoeing  the  ground  round  the  roots,  but  when 
Nat  looked  out  cautiously  from  the  edge  of  the  higher  canes 
not  a  soul  was  to  be  seen. 

"  I  think  it  is  perfectly  safe,"  he  said ;  "but  you  had  better 
put  on  the  dark  wraps,  your  light  dresses  would  be  seen  a  long 
distance  away.  We  had  better  move  a  short  distance  farther 
to  the  right  before  we  attempt  to  go  straight  on.  If  you  will 
walk  one  after  the  other,  treading  in  each  other's  steps,  I 
will  take  off  my  shoes  and  follow  you ;  that  will  destroy  your 
traces,  and  the  marks  of  my  bare  feet  might  be  taken  for 
those  of  a  negro.  Please  do  not  lose  a  moment,"  he  said,  as 
he  saw  that  Madame  Duchesne  was  about  to  speak;  "there 


THE   NEGRO   RISING  109 

will  be  time  to  talk  when  we  get  into  the  forest  and  settle 
what  we  had  best  do." 

They  had  gone  but  a  few  yards  when  Nat's  eye  caught 
sight  of  a  hoe  lying  on  the  ground  a  short  distance  along 
one  of  the  rows  of  the  young  canes.  He  ran  and  fetched 
it,  the  others  stopping  while  he  did  so.  Then  as  he  went 
along  he  carefully  obliterated  his  footsteps,  and  continued  to 
do  so  until  when,  after  walking  thirty  or  forty  yards  farther, 
he  turned  into  the  young  plantation.  The  surface  of  the 
ground  was  almost  dust-dry,  and  between  the  rows  of  the 
growing  canes  a  track  had  been  worn  by  the  feet  of  the  slaves, 
who  every  two  or  three  days  hoed  round  the  roots;  here, 
therefore,  there  was  no  occasion  to  use  the  hoe,  as  the  ground 
was  so  hard  that  his  feet  left  no  marks  upon  it.  In  a  few 
minutes  they  entered  the  wood  and  went  in  some  little 
distance ;  then  they  stopped.  They  could  still  hear  the  yells 
of  the  negroes,  who,  Nat  doubted  not,  were  engaged  in  plun- 
dering the  house,  after  which  he  felt  sure  that  there  would  be 
an  eager  search  for  the  fugitives. 

The  ground  had  been  rising  all  the  way. 

"  I  see  you  need  a  few  minutes'  rest,"  he  said  to  Madame 
Duchesne,  who  was  so  much  shaken  that  it  was  evident  she 
could  walk  but  little  farther.  "I  will  go  back  to  the  edge 
of  the  wood  and  see  if  there  are  any  signs  of  their  follow- 
ing us." 

Just  as  he  reached  the  open  ground  there  was  a  louder 
outburst  than  usual  of  exulting  cries;  he  saw  a  column  of 
smoke  rising  from  the  trees,  and  knew  that  the  negroes  had 
set  the  house  on  fire.  He  returned  at  once  to  the  ladies. 
Madame  Duchesne  had  sunk  on  the  ground.  Myra  was 
kneeling  beside  her. 

"  We  must  go  on,  madame,"  he  said ;  "  the  scoundrels  have 
fired  the  house." 


HO  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

She  rose  to  her  feet. 

"  I  am  better  now,"  she  said  with  a  calmness  that  greatly 
pleased  Nat.  "  It  seemed  a  dream  at  first.  What  does  it  all 
mean,  Nat?"  for  she  as  well  as  her  daughter  had  come  to 
address  him  by  that  name. 

"  I  fear  it  is  a  general  rising  of  the  blacks  throughout  the 
island,"  he  replied.  "Monsieur  Duchesne  told  me  last  night 
that  he  thought  such  an  event  might  possibly  take  place,  but 
he  made  sure  that  if  it  occurred  we  should  have  ample 
warning.  By  what  your  old  nurse  said  it  must  have  been  an 
arranged  thing,  to  take  place  on  the  twenty-fifth,  but  something 
must  have  hurried  it.  I  think,  to 'begin  with,  we  had  better 
go  half  a  mile  farther  into  the  forest.  We  can  talk  as  we  go." 

"  Had  we  not  better  make  straight  for  the  town  ?  " 

"I  think  not,  though  of  course  I  will  do  whatever  you 
believe  to  be  best;  but  there  are  a  score  of  plantations  be- 
tween us  and  the  town,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  slaves 
will  have  risen  everywhere.  Besides,  if  your  own  negroes 
fail  to  follow  our  track,  they  will  make  sure  that  we  have 
gone  in  that  direction,  and  will  be  on  the  look-out  for  us; 
therefore  I  think  that  for  the  present  we  had  better  remain 
in  the  forest." 

"  But  how  can  we  live  here  ? "  she  asked. 

"  There  will  be  no  difficulty  about  that,"  he  replied ;  "  there 
are  plenty  of  plantations  of  yams,  and  I  can  go  down  and  dig 
them  up  at  night.  The  young  canes  will  quench  your  thirst 
if  we  fail  to  hit  upon  a  spring,  but  we  know  that  there  are 
several  of  these  among  the  hills,  for  we  pass  over  five  or  six 
little  streamlets  on  our  way  to  the  town." 

"  I  am  sure  Nat  will  look  well  after  us,"  Myra  said  con- 
fidently; "besides,  mamma,  I  am  certain  that  you  could  not 
walk  down  there.  You  know  you  never  do  walk,  and  I  cannot 
recollect  your  walking  so  far  as  you  have  done  to-day." 


THE  NEGRO   RISING  111 

This  indeed  had  been  the  chief  reason  why  Nat  had  decided 
that  they  had  better  stay  in  the  forest  at  present,  although  he 
had  not  mentioned  it.  Like  all  Creoles  —  as  whites  born  in  the 
islands  were  called  in  the  French  West  Indies  —  Madame 
Duchesne  was  altogether  unaccustomed  to  exercise,  and 
beyond  a  stroll  in  the  garden  when  the  heat  of  the  day 
was  over,  had  not  walked  since  her  childhood.  The  heat, 
indeed,  rendered  a  journey  of  any  kind  next  to  impossible 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  They  had  slaves  to  do 
their  bidding,  to  wait  on  them,  fetch  and  carry,  and  conse- 
quently even  in  the  house  they  had  no  occasion  for  the 
slightest  personal  exertion.  Madame  Duchesne,  being  of  a 
naturally  more  energetic  temperament  than  are  Creoles  in 
general,  was  less  indolent  than  the  majority  of  the  ladies  of 
the  island,  but  was  wholly  incapable  of  taking  a  walk  of  which 
English  ladies  would  have  thought  nothing.  She  was  already 
greatly  exhausted  by  the  excitement  and  the  fatigue  of  their 
hasty  flight,  and  to  Nat  it  seemed  at  once  that  it  was  hopeless 
for  her  to  think  of  attempting  the  journey  of  fifteen  miles 
across  a  rough  country. 

The  forest  grew  thicker  as  they  advanced,  and  after  walking 
for  half  an  hour  Madame  Duchesne  declared  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  her  to  go  farther.  Nat  was  indeed  surprised  that 
she  had  held  on  for  so  long.  She  had  been  leaning  on  his 
arm,  and  he  felt  the  weight  becoming  heavier  and  heavier 
every  step.  She  was  bathed  in  perspiration,  her  breath  came 
in  gasps,  and  he  himself  proposed  a  halt,  feeling  that  she  was 
at  the  end  of  her  strength. 


112  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

CHAPTER  VII 

IN  HIDING 

"  npHE  first  thing  to  do,"  Nat  said,  after  he  had  seen  that 

_L  Madame  Duchesne  was  as  comfortably  seated  as  possible, 
"  is  to  find  some  sort  of  hiding-place.  We  may  be  sure  that 
the  negroes  will  search  everywhere  for  you,  and  that,  released 
from  work  and  having  nothing  to  do,  they  will  wander  about 
the  woods,  and  one  of  them  might  come  upon  us  at  any 
moment.  Therefore,  unless  we  can  find  some  sort  of  shelter, 
I  dare  not  leave  you  for  a  minute." 

"But  why  should  you  leave  us?"  Myra  asked. 

"We  must  eat  and  drink,"  he  said.  "  I  must  endeavour  to 
discover  what  is  going  on  elsewhere  ;  I  must,  if  possible,  obtain 
a  disguise,  and  endeavour  to  find  out  what  are  the  intentions 
of  the  blacks,  and  ascertain  whether  it  will  be  possible  to 
obtain  help  from  the  town ;  and  I  can  begin  to  do  nothing 
until  I  feel  that  you  are  at  least  comparatively  safe.  There  is 
no  doubt,  Madame  Duchesne,  that  our  position  is  a  very 
painful  one,  but  we  have  a  great  deal  to  be  thankful  for.  If 
the  rising  had  taken  place  in  the  night,  as  no  doubt  it  did 
at  the  plantations  where  the  negroes  began  their  work,  we 
should  all  have  been  murdered  without  the  chance  of  resist- 
ance. Now,  we  have  escaped  with  our  lives,  and  have  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  Monsieur  Duchesne  is  safe  in  the 
town,  and  will  assuredly  do  his  best  to  rescue  us ;  but  that  can 
hardly  be  yet.  Cape  Francois  is  no  doubt  in  a  state  of  wild 
panic,  and  will  in  the  first  place  be  thinking  of  how  it  can  best 
defend  itself. 

"  There  are,  of  course,  many  other  planters  there  in  the  same 
position  as  your  husband.  Each  will  be  thinking  of  his  own 


IN   HIDING  113 

people ;  nothing  like  a  general  effort  will  be  possible.  At  any 
rate,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  must  be  some  time  before  any 
operations  can  take  place  to  put  down  the  insurrection.  If 
one  could  but  get  hold  of  some  messenger  one  could  trust, 
and  could  let  Monsieur  Duchesne  know  that  you  are  for  the 
present  safe,  it  would  be  an  immense  relief  to  him ;  but  so  far 
as  we  know  at  present  that  old  nurse  is  the  only  one  of  your 
slaves  who  is  faithful,  and  even  if  I  could  find  her  and  get 
her  to  carry  a  note  or  a  message,  it  is  unlikely  in  the  extreme 
that  she  would  be  permitted  to  pass  on  into  the  town.  How- 
ever, as  I  say,  the  first  thing  is  to  discover  a  hiding-place 
where  you  would  be  comparatively  safe,  and  before  I  go  to 
find  a  messenger  I  will  look  round  for  some  clump  of  under- 
growth where  nothing  but  close  search  could  find  you.  I 
think  that  those  bushes  we  see  across  there  would  do  for  the 
moment.  You  cannot  remain  here,  for  you  would  be  seen  at 
once  by  anyone  who  came  along  within  fifty  yards  of  you.  I 
will  go  and  see  at  once  whether  it  would  do." 

Without  waiting  for  an  answer  he  hurried  away.  On  exam- 
ination he  found  that  the  place  was  more  suitable  than  he  had 
expected.  A  great  tree  had  once  stood  there,  and  had  been 
sawn  off  close  to  the  ground.  Round  this  a  clump  of  bushes 
had  sprung  up,  growing  so  thickly  that  it  was  impossible  to  see 
into  the  centre  save  by  pushing  aside  the  bushes  and  entering 
the  little  circle.  He  hastened  back. 

"  It  will  do  excellently  for  our  hiding-place  for  the  present," 
he  said,  "  and  the  sooner  we  are  inside  the  better." 

He  assisted  Madame  Duchesne  to  her  feet,  led  her  to  the 
bushes,  and  then  bent  some  of  them  very  carefully  aside.  The 
ladies  made  their  way  in,  and  he  followed  them,  seeing  that 
each  of  the  saplings  fell  back  in  its  natural  position. 

"There,  madame,"  he  said,  "unless  anyone  took  it  into  his 
head  to  push  in  as  we  have  done  we  are  absolutely  safe.  But 


114  A.  ROVING   COMMISSION 

it  will  be  better  that  you  should  keep  your  dark  cloaks  on.  I 
do  not  think  that  anyone  could  see  through  this  thick  screen  of 
leaves,  but  it  is  as  well  to  be  on  the  safe  side." 

"  You  won't  leave  us  at  present  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  he  said.  "  After  it  gets  dark  I  shall  make 
my  way  down  to  the  house.  I  must  get  a  disguise  of  some 
sort;  it  does  not  matter  much  what  it  is,  for  I  expect  the 
slaves  will  be  dressing  up  in  the  clothes  they  have  stolen,  no 
matter  what  they  are.  With  some  charred  wood  I  can  blacken 
my  face  and  hands.  No  doubt  anyone  would  see  at  once  on 
looking  at  me  closely  that  I  was  not  a  negro,  but  at  a  distance 
I  should  pass." 

"You  would  make  a  better  mulatto  than  you  would  a 
negro,"  Myra  said. 

"  So  I  should ;  as  they  are  all  shades  of  colour,  I  should  not 
have  to  be  very  particular." 

"If  we  had  Dinah  here  with  us,"  Myra  said,  "she  could 
make  you  some  dye.  She  knows  all  about  berries  and  roots, 
and  generally  doctors  any  of  the  women  who  may  be  ill ;  she 
would  know  for  sure  of  some  berries  that  would  stain  your 
skin." 

"  Well,  I  must  see  if  I  can  find  her,  Myra.  If  not,  I  must 
use  the  charcoal,  but  certainly  the  other  would  be  much  the 
safer ;  and,  you  see,  thanks  to  my  long  stay  with  you  before, 
I  have  got  to  speak  French  very  fairly  now." 

The  day  passed  slowly.  Occasionally  they  heard  shouts 
lower  down  in  the  forest,  but  these  did  not  come  near  them, 
and  after  a  time  died  away. 

"  I  thought  they  would  hardly  come  up  as  far  as  this,"  Nat 
said ;  "  negroes  are  not  given  to  work  unless  they  are  obliged 
to,  and  they  will  find  it  so  pleasant  doing  nothing  that  they  are 
hardly  likely  to  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  search  very  far 
for  us.  Besides,  doubtless  they  have  other  things  to  think  about 


IN   HIDING  115 

They  will  know  that  their  work  has  only  begun  when  they  have 
burnt  their  masters'  houses,  and  killed  all  the  white  people 
they  can  lay  their  hands  upon,  and  that  until  they  have  taken 
possession  of  the  towns  they  are  not  masters  of  the  island.  No 
doubt,  too,  they  carried  out  the  wine  before  they  burnt  the 
house." 

"  Besides,"  Myra  said,  "  there  is  the  rum  store ;  there  are  at 
least  a  hundred  barrels  there." 

"  Yes,  I  did  not  think  of  that.  Well,  I  expect  that  before 
this  the  greater  part  of  them  are  drunk,  and  I  don't  suppose 
there  will  be  a  sober  man  left  to-night.  That  will  make  it  an 
easy  business  for  me  to  find  out  what  they  are  doing,  and  to 
get  hold  of  the  things  that  will  be  useful  to  you.  I  am  more 
afraid  of  the  mulattoes  than  of  the  negroes." 

"Do  you  think  that  they  would  join  the  blacks?" 

"  I  have  no  doubt  at  all  about  it ;  I  feel  sure  they  have  done 
so.  I  saw  three  of  them  talking  together  yesterday ;  they  were 
paying  no  attention  to  the  slaves,  and  I  thought  then  that  it 
was  rather  peculiar.  Besides,  we  know  that  these  lower  class 
of  mulattoes  are  as  hostile  to  the  whites  as  the  negroes  are,  if 
not  more  so,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  have  had  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  exciting  the  slaves  to  revolt.  And  now,  Madame 
Duchesne,  I  will  go  down  through  the  woods  and  get  you  some 
sugar-cane,  and  look  for  a  stream." 

Madame  Duchesne  protested,  but  she  was  accustomed  to 
have  every  want  supplied  as  soon  as  expressed,  and  she  was 
suffering  much  from  thirst  after  the  excitement  and  effort. 

"You  really  require  something,"  Nat  went  on.  "You  see,  if 
I  go  down  after  dark  I  may  be  away  for  two  or  three  hours,  and 
were  you  to  wait  till  then  you  would  be  in  a  fever  with  thirst. 
It  is  evident  that  the  negroes  have  all  left  the  wood,  therefore 
there  can  be  no  risk  in  my  going  down  and  cutting  a  dozen  of 
the  young  canes." 


116  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  If  you  go,"  she  said  firmly,  sitting  up  as  she  spoke,  "  you 
must  leave  me  two  of  your  pistols  —  they  are  double-barrelled, 
are  they  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  madame." 

"  Well,  leave  two.  If  the  negroes  come  and  begin  to  search 
this  place  I  shall  shoot  Myra  first  and  then  myself,  for  death 
would  be  a  thousand  times  preferable  to  falling  into  the  hands 
of  these  wretches." 

"  I  think  you  are  right  there,"  Nat  said  gravely,  "  and  if  I 
thought  that  there  would  be  the  slightest  fear  of  their  coming 
I  would  not  leave  you.  I  shall  not  be  away  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  I  will  leave  my  jacket  and  cap  here,  and  tie  a  handker- 
chief round  my  head,  so  that  should  I  by  any  chance  come 
across  a  searcher,  he  will  not  recognize  me  until  I  am  close 
enough  to  silence  him.  I  shall  take  the  sword  as  well  as  the 
other  brace  of  pistols ;  it  will  be  useful  for  cutting  down  the 
canes." 

Taking  off  his  jacket  and  waistcoat,  and  tying  his  handker- 
chief round  his  head,  he  made  his  way  through  the  bushes,  and 
then  started  at  a  fast  run  down  the  hill,  keeping,  however,  a 
sharp  look-out  as  he  went.  As  he  expected,  there  were  no 
signs  of  the  blacks.  As  he  reached  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and 
cut  the  canes,  he  could  hear  the  sound  of  distant  yells  in  the 
direction  of  the  house. 

"The  brutes  have  got  at  the  rum,"  he  said.  "If  I  had 
but  half  a  dozen  blue-jackets,  I  believe  I  could  clear  the  lot 
out.  I  do  hope,"  he  went  on,  as  he  started  on  his  way  back, 
"  I  shall  be  able  to  lay  my  hand  on  something  to  eat,  and  get 
hold  of  a  bottle  or  two  of  wine.  Madame  will  never  be  able 
to  get  on  on  yams  and  sugar-canes,  accustomed  as  she  has 
been  to  every  luxury.  Myra  will  be  all  right,  she  is  a  regular 
young  brick."  As  he  neared  the  clump  of  bushes  he  cried  out 
cheerily :  "  All  right,  madame,  I  have  got  the  canes,  and  have 


IN   HIDING  117 

not  caught  sight  of  a  negro."  An  exclamation  of  relief  fol- 
lowed. Madame  Duchesne  and  Myra  were  both  standing  as 
he  entered,  each  with  a  pistol  in  her  hand. 

"  I  was  not  alarmed  by  your  footstep,"  she  said,  "  for  any- 
one who  was  searching  for  us  would  come  along  slowly  and 
stealthily;  but  I  thought  you  might  be  pursued." 

"  If  I  had  been,"  Nat  laughed,  "  you  may  be  very  sure  I 
should  not  have  brought  them  this  way,  but  would  have  given 
them  a  dance  all  over  the  place,  and  then  slipped  away  and 
come  back  here." 

"  I  know  that,"  she  said  earnestly,  "  but  I  am  nervous  and 
shaken." 

"  Very  naturally,  too, "  Nat  said  :  "  you  felt  very  much  as  I 
did  when,  after  that  explosion,  I  went  on  board  the  other  pirate 
to  drown  the  magazine.  I  believe  that  if  anyone  had  given 
a  shout  close  to  me  I  should  have  tumbled  headlong  down  on 
the  deck.  I  think,  now,  we  are  perfectly  safe  till  to-morrow. 
By  the  noises  I  heard  down  by  the  house  I  should  say  that 
most  of  the  slaves  are  drunk  already,  and  you  may  be  sure  that 
they  will  not  think  of  starting  to  look  for  us  till  to-morrow. 
Now,  if  you  will  take  my  advice,  you  will  try  to  sleep  a  bit." 

Accustomed  to  sleep  for  two  or  three  hours  during  the  heat 
of  the  day,  Madame  Duchesne  was  indeed  feeling  so  drowsy 
that  she  could  with  difficulty  keep  her  eyes  open,  and  she  now 
in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  was  breathing  quietly  and 
regularly. 

"  Now,  Myra,  do  you  watch  by  your  mother  while  I  go  and 
look  for  water.  That  tiny  stream  that  crosses  the  road  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  above  your  house  must  come  down  not  far  from  here, 
and  it  is  essential  that  we  should  be  near  it." 

"But  it  is  near  water  that  they  are  most  likely  to  look  for 
us." 

"  I  did  not  think  of  that,  Myra ;  of  course  it  is.     Well,  then, 


118  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

we  must  move  over  this  hill  and  hide  up  in  the  next  little  valley 
we  come  to.  There  is  a  road  that  turns  off  half  a  mile  above 
your  house.  I  never  went  far  along  it,  but  it  seems  to  go  right 
up  into  the  heart  of  the  hills." 

"  I  never  went  up  it  either,  Nat,  but  I  have  heard  my  father 
say  there  were  a  good  many  small  clearings  up  among  the  hills, 
some  with  twenty  slaves,  some  with  only  two  or  three." 

"Then,  when  I  come  back  from  seeing  how  things  are  going 
on  at  the  house,  we  had  better  make  for  that  road,  keeping 
along  down  at  the  end  of  the  plantation  until  we  come  to  it. 
It  will  be  much  better  to  keep  straight  along  there  till  we 
pass  some  little  valley  where  there  is  a  stream,  than  to  wander 
about  in  the  wood ;  and  we  shall  be  farther  away  from  those 
who  may  be  looking  after  us.  If  your  mother  sleeps  for  two 
or  three  hours  she  will  be  able  to  go  some  little  distance 
to-night." 

Myra  shook  her  head  doubtingly. 

"  We  must  get  her  on,"  he  added,  "  even  if  we  have  to  carry 
her.  It  is  all  very  well  for  us,  because  I  am  as  hard  as  nails, 
and  you  do  a  lot  of  walking  for  a  white  girl  here,  but  your 
mother  is  not  strong.  You  saw  how  terribly  exhausted  she 
was  when  she  got  here,  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  she  may 
knock  up  altogether;  therefore  it  is  essential  to  get  her  into 
shelter.  We  are  safe  for  to-day,  but  to-morrow  we  may  have 
the  negroes  all  over  the  hills,  and  it  will  have  to  be  a  wonder- 
fully good  hiding-place  to  escape  their  search." 

"  But  do  you  feel  sure  that  they  have  risen  on  all  the  other 
plantations?" 

"  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  they  have  risen  on  every 
plantation  in  this  neighbourhood.  Your  slaves  were  wonder- 
fully well  treated,  and  would  not  have  joined  unless  they  had 
known  that  it  was  a  general  rising.  You  know  the  old  nurse 
said  that  it  was  to  have  been  on  the  twenty-fifth,  which  means, 


IN   HIDING  119 

of  course,  that  it  was  a  great  plot  all  over  the  island.  Of  course 
in  some  places  they  may  not  have  got  the  news  yet,  and  may 
not  rise  for  a  day  or  two,  but  you  may  be  sure  that  all  around 
here  it  has  been  general." 

"  But  why  should  they  want  to  kill  us?  " 

"  Because  they  are  really  nothing  but  savages.  Though  they 
have  in  many  cases  been  slaves  for  generations,  still  there  are 
always  fresh  slaves  arriving;  and  the  others  know  that  their 
fathers,  like  these,  were  captured  and  sold  to  the  whites,  that 
they  had  terrible  times  in  the  slave-ships,  and  are  on  some 
plantations  treated  like  dogs,  and  are  bought  and  sold  just  like 
cattle.  I  don't  wonder  at  it  that,  now  they  have  got  a  chance, 
as  they  think,  they  should  take  vengeance  for  all  the  ills  they 
have  suffered.  When  they  are  at  war  with  each  other  in  Africa 
they  kill  or  enslave  all  who  fall  into  their  hands  —  men,  women, 
or  children — and  you  may  be  sure  that  they  will  show  no 
mercy  here.  When  I  was  down  at  the  edge  of  the  wood  to  cut 
those  canes  I  could  see  smoke  rising  from  a  dozen  points  lower 
down.  It  is  possible  that  some  besides  ourselves  got  warning 
in  time,  but  I  am  afraid  very  few  can  have  escaped ;  for  you 
see,  once  beyond  the  line  of  wood,  which  does  not  go  more 
than  a  mile  or  two  further,  there  will  be  no  hiding-places  for 
them.  There  is  only  one  comfort,  and  that  is,  the  news  must 
have  got  down  to  the  town  in  a  very  short  time,  and  there  is 
no  fear  of  your  father  driving  out  and  being  taken  by  surprise. 
My  greatest  hope  lies  in  that  old  nurse  of  yours.  She  could 
do  more  in  the  way  of  helping  us  than  we  could  do  ourselves. 
She  could  go  and  get  things,  and  hear  what  is  going  on.  She 
is  old,  but  she  is  a  strong  woman  still,  and  could  help  to  carry 
your  mother,  and  attend  to  her  if  she  is  ill." 

"  Do  you  think  she  is  going  to  be  ill  ? "  Myra  asked  anx- 
iously, looking  at  her  mother. 

"  I  sincerely  trust  not,  Myra,  but  I  own  that  I  am  afraid  of 


120  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

it.  She  is  breathing  faster  than  she  did,  and  she  has  moved 
restlessly  several  times  while  we  have  been  talking,  and  has  a 
patch  of  colour  on  each  cheek,  which  looks  like  fever.  How- 
ever, we  must  hope  for  the  best.  Anyhow,  I  shall  bring  Dinah 
up  here  if  possible." 

So  they  talked  till  the  sun  went  down.  Madame  Duchesne 
still  slept,  but  her  breathing  was  perceptibly  faster.  She 
occasionally  muttered  to  herself,  and  scarcely  lay  still  for  a 
moment. 

"  I  will  be  going  now,"  Nat  said  at  last ;  "  it  will  be  pitch 
dark  by  the  time  I  get  down  to  the  house ;  it  is  dark  already 
here.  You  have  the  pistols,  Myra,  but  you  may  be  quite  sure 
that  no  one  will  be  searching  now.  I  may  have  some  difficulty 
in  finding  these  bushes  when  I  come  back,  but  I  will  whistle, 
and  when  I  do,  do  you  give  a  call.  I  hope  I  shall  bring  Dinah 
back  with  me." 

"  Oh,  I  do  hope  you  will.     She  would  be  a  comfort  to  us." 

Nat  heard  a  quaver  in  her  voice,  which  showed  that  she  was 
on  the  point  of  breaking  down. 

"  You  must  not  give  way,  Myra, "  he  said.  "  You  have 
been  very  plucky  up  to  now,  and  for  your  mother's  sake  you 
must  keep  up  a  brave  heart  and  hope  always  for  the  best.  I 
rely  upon  you  greatly.  We  may  have  many  dangers  to  go 
through,  but  with  God's  help  we  may  hope  to  rejoin  your 
father.  But  we  must  be  calm  and  patient.  We  have  been 
marvellously  fortunate  so  far,  and  shall,  I  hope,  be  so  until 
the  end.  When  I  find  out  what  the  negroes  intend  to  do  we 
shall  be  able  to  decide  upon  our  course.  It  may  be  that  they 
will  pour  down  from  all  the  plantations  within  thirty  or  forty 
miles  round  and  attack  the  town,  or  it  may  be  that  they  will 
march  away  into  the  mountains  in  the  interior  of  the  island, 
in  which  case  the  road  to  the  town  will  be  open  to  us.  Now, 
good-bye;  I  will  be  back  as  soon  as  I  can." 


IN  HIDING  121 

"  Do  not  hurry,"  she  said.  "  I  will  try  to  "be  brave,  and  I 
don't  mind  waiting,  because  I  shall  know  that  you  are  trying 
to  get  nurse,  and  of  course  it  may  be  difficult  for  you  to  find 
her  alone." 

"Good-bye,  then,"  he  said  cheerfully,  and  passing  through 
the  bushes  he  went  rapidly  down  the  hill. 

On  reaching  the  cane-field  he  again  took  off  his  shoes.  He 
did  not  hurry  now.  It  was  a  tremendous  responsibility  that 
he  had  upon  his  shoulders.  He  thought  nothing  of  the  danger 
to  himself,  but  of  how  Madame  Duchesne  and  her  daughter 
were  to  be  sheltered  and  cared  for  if,  as  he  feared,  the  former 
was  on  the  edge  of  an  attack  of  fever,  which  might  last  for 
days,  and  so  prostrate  her  that  weeks  might  elapse  before  she 
would  be  fit  to  travel. 

"  I  must  get  Dinah  at  all  costs,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  She 
knows  what  will  be  wanted,  and  will  be  a  companion  to  Myra 
when  I  have  to  be  away." 

As  he  neared  the  place  where  the  house  had  stood  he  heard 
sounds  of  shouting  and  singing  coming  from  a  spot  near  the 
storehouses,  where  a  broad  glow  of  light  showed  that  a  great 
bonfire  was  burning.  He  kept  in  the  shrubbery  until  near 
the  house,  and  then  stepped  out  on  to  the  grass.  The  house 
was  gone,  and  a  pile  of  still  glowing  embers  alone  marked 
where  it  had  stood.  Nat  approached  this,  found  a  piece  of 
charred  timber  that  had  fallen  a  short  distance  from  it,  and 
proceeded  to  blacken  his  face  and  hands.  Then  he  turned 
towards  the  fire.  As  he  had  expected,  it  was  not  long  before 
he  came  across  the  figure  of  a  prostrate  man,  who  was  snoring 
iu  a  drunken  sleep.  The  stars  gave  sufficient  light  for  him  to 
see  as  he  bent  over  him  that  he  was  a  negro.  He  had  attired 
himself  in  what  when  he  put  them  on  were  a  clean  nankeen 
jacket  and  trousers,  a  part  of  the  spoil  he  had  taken  in  the 
sack  of  the  house.  Without  ceremony  Nat  turned  him  over, 


122  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

and  with  some  trouble  removed  the  garments  and  put  them  on 
over  his  own.  Then  he  took  the  red  handkerchief  that  the 
negro  had  bound  round  his  head  and  tied  it  on,  putting  his 
own  bandana  in  his  pocket. 

"  Now,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  shall  do,  provided  I  keep 
away  from  the  light  of  that  fire.  The  first  point  is  to  find 
where  Dinah  has  gone.  I  know  she  has  a  daughter  and 
some  grandchildren  down  at  the  slaves'  huts.  I  should  think 
I  have  most  chance  of  finding  her  there." 

Turning  off,  he  went  to  the  huts,  which  lay  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  away  from  the  house.  As  he  did  so  he  passed 
near  the  houses  in  which  the  mulatto  overseers  lived.  There 
were  lights  here,  and  he  could  hear  the  sound  of  voices  through 
the  open  windows. 

"  I  will  come  back  to  them  later  on,"  he  said,  "  I  may  hear 
something  of  their  plans ;  but  Dinah  is  the  most  important  at 
present." 

He  was  soon  among  the  slave  huts.  No  one  was  about, 
the  women  being  mostly  up  at  the  fire  with  the  men.  He 
looked  in  at  the  door  of  each  hut  he  passed.  As  he  was 
still  without  shoes  his  movements  were  noiseless.  In  a  few 
of  them  women  were  cooking,  or  putting  their  children  to  bed. 
At  the  last  hut  of  the  first  row  which  he  visited  an  old  negro 
woman  was  rocking  herself  in  great  grief,  and  two  or  three 
children  were  playing  on  the  floor.  Nat  knew  that  he  had 
come  to  the  end  of  his  search,  by  the  blue  cotton  dress  with 
large  white  spots  that  the  woman  wore.  He  went  in  and 
touched  her. 

"  Dinah,"  he  whispered,  "  come  outside  !  " 

She  gave  a  little  start  of  surprise,  and  then  said  to  the 
children : 

"  Now,  you  stop  here,  like  good  childer,  Aunt  Dinah  is  agoing 
out  If  you  keep  quiet  she  tell  you  story  when  she  comes  in." 


"IT   WAS    NOT   LONG    BEFORE   HE   CAME   ACROSS   THE    FIGURE 
OF   A    PROSTRATE   MAN.  " 


IN   HIDING  1?3 

Then  she  went  out  with  Nat  without  any  appearance  of 
haste.  By  long  connection  with  the  family  she  spoke  French 
fairly  well,  whereas  the  negro  patois,  although  mostly  composed 
of  French  words,  was  almost  unintelligible  to  him. 

"Tank  de  Lord  dat  you  hab  come  back,  Marse  Glober. 
Dinah  fret  terrible  all  day.  Am  de  ladies  well?  Whar  you 
hide  dem?" 

"  They  are  up  in  the  wood,  Dinah.  I  am  greatly  afraid  that 
Madame  Duchesne  is  going  to  have  fever,  and  you  are  sorely 
wanted  there.  Myra  said  she  was  sure  that  you  would  come 
when  you  knew  where  they  were." 

"  For  suah  me  come,  massa,"  she  said.  "  What  madame  and 
Mam'selle  Myra  do  widout  Dinah  ?  So  you  black  your  face  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  I  want  some  juice  to  make  my  face  yellow  like  a 
mulatto.  Anyone  could  see  that  I  was  not  a  negro  in  the 
daylight." 

"  Dat  so.     Me  bring  'tuff  wid  me.     What  you  want  beside  ?  " 

"  We  shall  want  a  bottle  or  two  of  wine  if  you  can  get  them, 
and  a  jug  of  fresh  water,  and  anything  you  can  get  in  the  way 
of  eatables,  and  I  should  say  a  cooking  pot.  Those  are  the 
principal  things." 

"Dere  am  plenty  ob  boxes  of  wine  up  near  house.  Dis 
black  trash  like  rum  better,  leave  wine  for  de  mulattoes ;  dey 
bery  bad  man  dose.  Where  you  go  now,  Marse  Glober  ?  Me 
take  some  time  to  get  de  tings." 

It  would  be  a  good  thing,  too,  if  you  could  get  hold  of 
enough  cotton  cloth  to  make  dresses  for  them." 

The  old  woman  nodded. 

"  Plenty  ob  dat,  sah.  Storehouses  all  broke  open,  eberyone 
take  what  him  like.  Dis  dreadful  day,  almost  break  Dinah's 
heart." 

"  It  has  been  a  terrible  day,  Dinah,  and  I  am  afraid  that  the 
same  bad  work  is  going  on  everywhere." 


124  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  So  dey  say,  marse,  so  dey  say.     Where  you  go  now,  sah  ?  " 

"  I  am  going  to  the  overseers'  huts  to  hear  what  their  plans 
are.  Where  shall  I  meet  you,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  Me  take  tings  to  bush  just  where  you  and  de  ladies  ran  in. 
Me  make  two  or  tree  journeys,  but  me  be  as  quick  as  can." 

"  Do ;  it  is  anxious  work  for  Myra  there,  and  I  want  to  get 
back  as  soon  as  I  can.  Her  mother  is  asleep,  and  even  if  she 
wakes  I  do  not  think  she  will  be  able  to  talk  much." 

"  Me  hurry,  sah,  but  can't  get  'tuff  to  stain  you  skin  to-night. 
Find  berries  up  in  de  wood  to-morrow." 

"  There  is  one  other  thing,  Dinah.  Can  you  tell  me  where 
to  find  a  hand-barrow  ?  I  expect  we  shall  have  to  carry  your 
mistress." 

"Me  know  de  sort  ob  ting  dat  you  want,  sah,  dey  carry 
tobacco  leabes  on  dem.  Dere  are  a  dozen  ob  dem  lying  out- 
side de  end  store." 

"  All  right,  Dinah,  I  will  take  one  as  I  go  past.  Now  I  will 
go." 

So  saying,  he  turned  and  made  his  way  to  the  overseers' 
house.  He  crept  softly  along  to  a  lighted  window.  When  in 
a  line  with  it  he  stood  up  for  a  minute,  knowing  that  those 
inside  would  not  be  able  to  see  him,  there  being  a  screen  of 
trees  just  behind  him.  The  three  mulattoes  whom  he  had  seen 
talking  together  in  the  field  on  the  previous  day  were  seated 
round  a  table.  On  it  were  placed  two  or  three  wine-glasses. 
All  were  smoking. 

"To-morrow  we  must  get  those  drunken  black  hogs  to 
work,"  one  said,  "and  have  a  regular  search  through  the 
woods.  Everything  has  gone  well  except  the  escape  of 
madame  and  her  gal.  Someone  must  have  warned  them. 
The  house  niggers  all  agree  that  they  were  in  the  verandah 
behind  just  before  we  came  up,  talking  with  that  English  lad. 
Of  course  they  will  be  found  sooner  or  later,  there  is  nowhere 


IN   HIDING  125 

for  them  to  run  to.  The  thing  is,  we  want  to  find  them  our- 
selves. If  anyone  else  came  upon  them  they  would  kill  them 
at  once." 

"Yes,  and  you  will  have  some  trouble  if  you  find  them, 
Monti,"  one  of  the  other  men  said.  "  These  blacks  have  been 
told  that  every  white  must  be  killed.  It  is  easy  enough  to 
work  these  fellows  up  into  a  frenzy,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
calm  them  down  afterwards." 

"  No,  I  am  quite  aware  of  that,  Christophe,  and  that  is  why 
I  did  not  press  the  search  to-day,  and  why  I  was  not  sorry  to 
find  that  they  had  got  away." 

"You  see,  we  have  arranged  that  when  the  whites  are  all 
killed  I  am  to  marry  madame,  that  Paul  is  to  take  the  young 
one,  and  that  we  are  to  divide  the  place  equally  between  the 
three  of  us." 

"  If  the  negroes  will  let  us,"  the  one  called  Monti  said.  "  I 
expect  they  will  want  to  have  a  say  in  the  business." 

"Yes,  of  course,  that  is  understood.  No  doubt  there  will  be 
trouble  with  them,  and  there  is  no  saying  how  things  will  turn 
out  yet.  At  any  rate  we  will  make  sure  of  the  women.  I 
have  gone  into  this  more  for  the  sake  of  getting  the  girl  than 
for  anything  else." 

"  We  have  made  a  good  beginning  everywhere,  as  far  as  we 
have  heard,  but  you  must  remember  that  it  is  only  a  beginning. 
Even  suppose  the  whites  of  the  town  do  nothing,  and  I  fancy 
we  shall  hear  of  them  presently,  they  will  send  over  troops 
from  France." 

"They  can  do  nothing  against  us  up  in  the  mountains," 
Christophe  said  scornfully. 

"That  may  be,"  the  other  said  quietly;  "but  at  any  rate 
there  are  the  blacks  to  deal  with.  They  have  risen  against 
the  whites,  but  when  they  have  done  with  them  we  need 
not  suppose  for  a  moment  that  they  are  going  to  work  for  us. 


126  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Luckily,  here  it  has  been  the  order  that  no  slave  is  to  be 
flogged  without  Duchesne's  approving  of  it,  and  the  result  is 
that  we  are  for  the  present  masters  of  this  plantation,  but 
we  have  heard  that  at  some  of  the  other  places  the  overseers 
as  well  as  the  whites  have  been  killed.  The  order  has  gone 
through  the  island  that  all  the  whites,  including  women  and 
children,  are  to  be  killed,  and  if  we  were  to  come  across  the 
women  when  we  have  forty  or  fifty  of  the  blacks  with  us  I 
don't  think  there  would  be  a  chance  of  our  saving  them. 
These  negroes  are  demons  when  their  blood  is  up.  They 
know,  too,  that  they  have  gone  too  far  to  be  forgiven,  and 
will  believe  that  their  safety  depends  upon  carrying  out  the 
orders  faithfully.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  in  a  rather 
awkward  fix.  If  we  don't  take  the  blacks  out  to-morrow  we 
sha'n't  find  them,  if  we  do  take  them  out  they  will  be  killed." 

"  We  ourselves  may  find  them,"  Paul  said. 

"  Yes ;  and  if  you  do,  they  will  have  that  English  lad  with 
them." 

"  We  can  soon  settle  him,"  Christophe  growled. 

"Well,  I  don't  say  we  couldn't;  but  you  know  how  he 
fought  that  hound,  and  there  was  a  report  two  days  ago,  from 
the  town,  that  they  have  attacked  the  Red  Pirate's  stronghold, 
taken  it,  and  destroyed  his  four  ships.  I  grant  that  as  we  are 
three  to  one  we  shall  kill  him,  but  one  or  two  of  us  may  go 
down  before  we  do  so.  Now,  I  tell  you  frankly  that  as  I  have 
no  personal  interest  in  finding  those  two  women,  I  have  no 
idea  of  running  the  risk  of  getting  myself  shot  in  what  is  your 
affair  altogether.  Any  reasonable  help  I  am  willing  to  give 
you,  but  when  it  comes  to  risking  my  life  in  the  matter  I  say, 
*  No,  thank  you.' " 

The  others  broke  into  a  torrent  of  savage  oaths. 

"  Well,"  he  went  on  calmly,  "  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that 
the  English  boy  would  not  be  a  match  for  the  three  of  us.  We 


IN   HIDING  127 

should  not  know  where  he  was,  but  he  would  see  us,  and  he 
might  shoot  a  couple  of  us  down  before  we  had  time  to  draw 
our  pistols.  Then  it  will  be  man  against  man ;  and  I  know 
that  girl  has  practised  shooting,  so  that  the  odds  would  be 
the  other  way.  Now,  I  ask  you  calmly,  is  it  worth  it?" 

"What  do  you  propose,  then?"  Paul  asked  sulkily,  after  a 
long  silence. 

"  I  say  that  we  had  better  wait  till  we  can  get  hold  of  some 
of  these  blacks ;  a  little  money  and  a  little  flattery  will  go  a 
long  way  with  them.  We  can  tell  them  that  we  have  private 
orders  that,  although  most  of  the  whites  have  to  be  put  to 
death,  a  few  are  to  be  kept,  among  them  these  two.  We  shall 
elect  a  president  and  generals,  and  it  is  right  that  they  should 
have  white  women  to  wait  on  them,  just  as  the  whites  have 
been  having  blacks.  That  is  just  the  sort  of  thing  that  will 
take  with  these  ignorant  fools.  Then  with,  say,  ten  men  we 
might  search  the  woods  thoroughly,  find  the  women,  and  hide 
them  up  somewhere  under  your  charge ;  but  we  must  go 
quietly  to  work.  A  few  days  will  make  no  difference.  We 
know  that  they  can't  get  away.  The  men  of  the  plantations 
lower  down  have  undertaken  to  see  that  no  whites  make  their 
way  into  the  town.  But  it  will  not  do  to  hurry  the  negroes, 
they  are  sure  to  be  either  sullen  or  arrogant  to-morrow.  Some 
of  them,  when  they  get  over  their  drink,  will  begin  to  fear  the 
consequences,  others  will  be  so  triumphant  that  for  a  time  our 
influence  will  be  gone." 

"That  is  the  best  plan,"  Christophe  said.  "You  have  the 
longest  head  of  us  three,  Monti.  For  a  time  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  let  the  blacks  have  their  own  way." 

Nat,  while  this  conversation  went  on,  had  been  fingering  his 
pistol  indecisively.  His  blood  was  so  fired  by  the  events  of  the 
day,  and  the  certainty  that  hundreds  of  women  and  children 
must  have  been  murdered,  that  he  would  have  had  no  hesita- 


128  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

tion  in  shooting  the  three  mulattoes  down.  Indeed  he  had 
quite  intended  to  do  so,  in  the  case  at  any  rate  of  Paul  and 
Christophe,  when  he  learned  their  plans ;  the  advice,  however, 
of  the  other,  who  was  evidently  the  leading  spirit,  decided  him 
against  this  course.  It  was  unlikely  that  he  would  be  able 
to  shoot  the  three,  for  at  the  first  shot  they  would  doubtless 
knock  the  candle  over ;  besides,  it  was  better  that  they  should 
live.  Evidently  they  would  in  some  way  persuade  the  great 
mass  of  the  negroes  not  to  trouble  themselves  to  search  the 
wood,  and  some  days  must  elapse  before  they  could  get  a 
party  together  on  whom  they  could  rely  to  spare  the  women 
and  take  them  as  prisoners. 

If  they  did  so,  and,  as  they  proposed,  put  them  hi  some  hut 
in  charge  of  Paul  and  Christophe,  he  would  have  a  fair  chance 
of  rescuing  them,  if  he  succeeded  in  getting  away  at  the  time 
they  were  captured.  At  any  *ate,  if  they  carried  out  their 
plans  they  would  have  some  days'  respite,  and  he  could  either 
take  Madame  Duchesne  and  Myra  a  good  deal  further  into 
the  hills,  or  might  even  be  able  to  get  them  into  the  town. 

The  mulattoes  now  began  to  talk  of  other  matters  —  how 
quickly  the  insurrection  would  spread,  the  towns  that  were 
to  be  attacked,  and  the  steps  to  be  taken  —  and  he  therefore 
quietly  made  off,  and  waited  for  Dinah  at  the  place  agreed  on. 
It  was  not  long  before  she  arrived  with  her  first  load. 

"  I  am  here,"  he  said  as  she  came  up.  "  Now,  what  can  I 
do  ?  I  had  better  come  and  help  you  back  with  the  other 
things.  We  can  carry  them  in  the  hand-barrow." 

"  Yes,  sah.  I  'se  got  dem  all  together,  de  tings  we  talked  of, 
and  tree  or  four  blankets,  and  a  few  tings  for  de  ladies,  and 
I  'se  taken  two  ob  de  best  frocks  I  could  find  in  de  huts.  I  'se 
got  de  wine  and  de  food  in  a  big  basket." 

"  All  right,  Dinah ;  let  us  start  at  once,  I  am  anxious  to  be 
back  again  as  soon  as  possible." 


IN   HIDING  129 

In  ten  minutes  they  returned  with  all  the  things.  The  basket 
of  wine  and  provisions  was  the  heaviest  item.  The  clothes  and 
blankets  had  been  made  up  into  a  bundle. 

'•'Me  will  carry  dat  on  my  head,"  Dinah  said,  "and  de 
barrow." 

"  No,  I  can  take  that,  Dinah,  that  will  balance  the  basket ; 
besides,  you  have  that  great  jug  of  water  to  take.  Now  let 
us  be  off." 

After  twenty  minutes'  walking  they  approached  the  spot 
where  the  ladies  were  in  hiding,  but  it  was  so  dark  under  the 
trees  that  Nat  could  not  determine  its  exact  position ;  he  there- 
fore whistled,  at  first  softly  and  then  more  loudly.  Then  he 
heard  a  call  some  little  distance  away.  He  went  on  until  he 
judged  that  he  must  be  close,  and  then  whistled  again.  The 
reply  came  at  once  some  thirty  yards  away. 

"  Here  we  are,  Myra,"  he  said ;  "  nurse  is  with  me." 

An  exclamation  of  delight  was  heard,  and  a  minute  later  he 
made  his  way  through  the  bushes. 

"Mamma  is  awake,"  the  girl  said,  "but  she  does  not  al- 
ways understand  what  I  say ;  sometimes  I  cannot  understand 
her,  and  her  hands  are  as  hot  as  fire.  I  am  glad  Dinah  is 
here." 

"You  can't  be  gladder 'n  me,  mam'selle.  I  hab  brought 
some  feber  medicine  wid  me,  and  a  lantern  and  some  candles." 

"  Would  it  be  safe  to  light  the  lantern  ?  "  Myra  asked. 

"  Quite  safe,"  Nat  said  ;  "  there  is  no  chance  whatever  of 
anyone  coming  along  here ;  besides,  we  can  put  something 
round  the  lantern  so  as  to  prevent  it  from  being  seen  from 
outside.  You  have  brought  steel  and  tinder,  I  hope,  Dinah?" 

"  Of  course,  marse,  lamp  no  good  widout ;  and  I  hab  got 
sulphur  matches,  no  fear  me  forget  them." 

"Give  them  to  me,  Dinah,  I  will  strike  a  light  while  you 
attend  to  your  mistress." 

9 


130  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Dinah  poured  some  water  into  a  cup  and  then  knelt  down 
by  Madame  Duchesne. 

"  Here,  dearie,"  she  said,  "  Dinah  brought  you  water  and 
wine  and  tings  to  eat.  Here  is  a  cup  of  water,  I  am  sure  you 
want  it.  Let  me  lift  you  up  to  drink  it." 

She  lifted  her  and  placed  the  cup  in  her  hands,  and  she 
drank  it  off  eagerly. 

"  Is  that  your  voice,  Dinah  ?  "  she  said  after  a  pause. 

"  Yes,  madame ;  I  'se  come  up  to  help  to  take  care  ob  you. 
Marse  Glober  come  and  tell  me  whar  you  were,  so  you  may  be 
suah  that  me  lose  no  time,  just  wait  to  get  a  few  tings  dat  you 
might  want  and  den  start  up." 

"  I  think  I  am  not  very  well,  Dinah." 

"  Jess  a  little  poorly  you  be.  Bery  funny  if  you  not  poorly 
abler  sich  wicked  doings.  Now  de  best  ting  dat  you  can  do  is 
to  go  to  sleep  and  not  worry." 

"  Give  me  another  drink,  Dinah." 

"  Here  it  is,  dis  time  a  little  wine  wid  de  water  and  a  little 
'tuff  to  make  you  sleep  quiet.  Den  me  double  up  a  blanket 
for  you  to  lie  on  and  put  anober  over  you,  and  a  bundle  under 
your  head,  and  den  you  go  to  sleep  firm.  No  trouble  to-night ; 
to-morrow  morning  we  go  on." 

Madame  Duchesne  drank  off  the  contents  of  the  cup.  She 
was  made  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would  permit,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  her  regular  breathing  showed  that  the 
medicine  that  Dinah  had  administered  had  had  the  desired 
effect. 

"Now,  Myra,"  Nat  said,  "we  will  investigate  the  contents 
of  the  basket.  I  am  beginning  to  get  as  hungry  as  a  hunter, 
and  I  am  sure  that  you  must  be  so  too." 

"  I  am  thirsty,"  the  girl  said,  "  but  I  do  not  feel  hungry." 

"  You  will,  directly  you  begin.  Now,  Dinah,  what  have  you 
brought  us  ?  " 


IN   HIDING  181 

"  Dere  am  one  roast  chicken  dar,  Marse  Glober.  Dat  was 
all  I  could  get  cooked.  Dere  are  six  dead  ones.  I  caught 
dem  and  wrung  their  necks  jest  before  I  started.  Dey  no 
good  now.  Dere  is  bread  baked  fresh  dis  morning  before  de 
troubles  began,  and  dere  is  two  pine-apples  and  a  big  melon." 

"  Bravo,  Dinah !     You  have  got  knives  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sah,  four  knibes  and  forks." 

"  We  could  manage  without  the  forks,  Dinah,  but  it  is  more 
comfortable  having  them.  Now  we  will  cut  the  chicken  up 
into  three.  It  looks  a  fine  bird." 

"  I  'se  had  my  dinner,  sah ;  no  want  more." 

"That  is  all  nonsense,  Dinah,"  he  said.  "I  am  quite  sure 
that  you  did  not  eat  much  dinner  to-day,  and  you  will  want 
your  strength  to-morrow." 

Dinah  could  not  affirm  that  she  had  eaten  much,  and  indeed 
she  had  scarcely  been  able  to  swallow  a  mouthful  in  the  middle 
of  the  day.  The  meal  was  heartily  enjoyed,  and  they  made 
up  with  bread  and  fruit  for  the  shortness  of  the  meat  ration. 

"  Now  you  two  lie  down,"  Nat  said  after  they  had  chatted 
for  an  hour.  "  I  am  accustomed  to  night  watches  and  can 
sleep  with  one  ear  open,  but  I  am  convinced  that  there  is  not 
the  slightest  need  for  any  of  us  keeping  awake.  When  the 
lantern  is  out,  which  it  will  be  as  soon  as  you  lie  down,  if  all 
the  negroes  came  up  into  the  woods  to  search  for  us  I  should 
have  no  fear  of  their  finding  us." 

Dinah,  however,  insisted  upon  taking  a  share  in  watching, 
saying  that  she  was  constantly  sitting  up  at  night  with  sick 
people. 

Finding  that  she  was  quite  determined,  Nat  said:  "Very 
well,  Dinah.  It  is  ten  o'clock  now.  I  will  watch  till  one 
o'clock,  and  then  you  can  watch  till  four.  We  shall  be  able  to 
start  then." 

"  It  won't  be  like  light  till  five.     No  good  start  troo  wood 


loJ  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

before  that.     I  'se  sure  to  wake  at  one  o'clock.     I  'se  accus- 
tomed to  wake  any  hour  so  as  to  give  medicines." 

"  Very  well,  Dinah ;  I  suppose  you  must  have  your  way." 
Myra  and  the  nurse  therefore  lay  down,  while  Nat  sat 
thinking  over  the  events  of  the  day  and  the  prospects  of  the 
future.  He  had  said  nothing  to  the  negress  of  the  conver- 
sation that  he  had  overheard,  as  on  the  way  from  the  house 
they  had  walked  one  behind  the  other  and  there  had  been  no 
opportunity  for  conversation,  and  he  would  not  on  any  account 
have  Myra  or  her  mother  know  the  fate  that  these  villains 
had  proposed  for  them.  He  wondered  now  whether  he  had 
done  rightly  in  abstaining  from  shooting  one  of  them,  but  after 
thinking  it  over  in  every  way  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  best  to  have  acted  as  he  did,  for  they  clearly  intended 
to  do  all  in  their  power  to  save  mother  and  daughter  from 
being  massacred  at  once  by  the  negroes. 

"  Even  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"they  have  pistols,  and  I  know  will,  as  a  last  resource,  use 
them  against  themselves." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  TIME    OF    WAITING 

DINAH  woke  two  minutes  before  one  o'clock,  and  Nat  at 
once  lay  down  and,  resolutely  refusing  to  allow  himself  to 
think  any  more  of  the  situation,  was  soon  fast  asleep. 

"It  am  jess  beginning  to   get  light,   Marse   Glober,"  the 
negress  said  when,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  he  had  not  been  five 
minutes  asleep.     However,  he  jumped  up  at  once. 
(t  It  is  very  dark,  still,  Dinah." 


A   TIME   OF   WAITING  133 

"  It  am  dark,  sah,  but  not  so  dark  as  it  was.  Bes'  be  off  at 
once.  Must  get  well  away  before  dem  black  fellows  wake  up." 

"  How  is  Madame  Duchesne  ?  " 

"  She  sleep,  sah  ;  she  no  wake  for  another  tree  or  four  hours. 
Dinah  give  pretty  strong  dose.  Bes'  dat  she  should  know 
noting  about  it  till  we  get  to  a  safe  place." 

"But  is  there  any  safe  place,  Dinah?" 

"  Yes,  massa  ;  me  take  you  where  dey  neber  tink  of  search- 
ing, but  good  way  off  in  hills." 

Myra  by  this  time  was  on  her  feet  also. 

"  Have  you  slept  well,  Myra  ? " 

"Yes,  I  have  slept  pretty  well,  but  in  spite  of  the  two 
blankets  under  us  it  was  awfully  hard,  and  I  feel  stiff  all  over 
now." 

"How  shall  we  divide  the  things,  Dinah?" 

"  Well,  sah,  do  you  tink  you  can  take  de  head  of  de  barrow  ? 
Dat  pretty  heaby  weight." 

"  Oh,  nonsense  !  "  Nat  said.  "  Madame  Duchesne  is  a  light 
weight,  and  if  I  could  get  her  comfortably  on  my  back  I  could 
carry  her  any  distance." 

"Dat  bery  well  before  starting,  Marse  Glober,  you  tell 
anoder  story  before  we  gone  very  far." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,  I  can  carry  a  good  deal  more  than  one 
end  of  the  barrow." 

"  Well,  sah,  we  put  all  de  blankets  on  de  barrow  before  we 
put  madame  on  it,  and  put  de  bundle  of  clothes  under  her 
head.  Den  by  her  feet  we  put  de  basket  and  oder  tings.  Dat 
divide  de  weight  pretty  fair." 

"  But  what  am  I  to  carry,  nurse,  may  I  ask  ?  " 

"  You  just  carry  yourself,  dearie ;  dat  quite  enough  for  you. 
It  am  a  good  long  way  we  hab  to  go,  and  some  part  of  it  am 
bery  rough.  You  do  bery  well  if  you  walk  dat  distance." 

"That  is  right,  Myra,"  Nat  agreed.     "We  don't  want  to 


134  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

have  to  carry  both  you  and  your  mother,  and  though  you 
have  walked  a  good  deal  more  than  most  of  the  girls  of  your 
own  class  you  have  never  done  anything  like  this." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  preparations  were  completed.  Madame 
Duchesne  was  laid  on  the  barrow,  and  the  basket  and  other 
things  packed  near  her  feet.  Dinah  took  up  the  two  front 
handles,  Nat  those  behind,  and,  with  Myra  walking  by  the  side, 
they  started. 

"  Which  way  are  we  going,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  Me  show  you,  sah.  We  go  up  for  some  way,  den  we  come 
on  path ;  two  miles  farder  we  cross  a  road,  and  den  strike  into 
forest  again  by  a  little  valley  wiv  a  tiny  stream  running  down 
him.  After  walk  for  an  hour  we  cross  ober  anoder  hill  all 
cobered  wiv  trees  and  find  soon  anoder  stream,  quite  little  dere ; 
hab  a  mile  we  follow  him,  den  we  find  a  place  where  we  'top. 
We  long  way  den  from  any  plantation,  dat  quite  wild  country." 

"Then  how  do  you  know  the  place,  Dinah?" 

"Me'se  not  been  dere  for  thirty  years,  Marse  Glober,  me 
active  wench  den,  twenty  year  old,  me  jest  marry  my  husband, 
he  dead  and  gone  long  ago.  He  hab  a  broder  on  anoder 
plantation;  dere  bery  bad  oberseer,  he  beat  de  slabes  bery 
much.  Jake  he  knock  him  down  with  hoe,  and  den  take  to 
de  hills ;  my  husband  know  de  place  where  he  hide,  and  took 
me  to  it  one  night,  so  dat  I  could  find  it  again  and  carry  food 
to  him,  cause  he  not  able  to  get  away,  hab  to  work  on  planta- 
tion. Me  had  a  little  pickanniny  and  could  'teal  away  widout 
being  noticed,  and  me  went  dere  seberal  times ;  den  oberseer 
killed  by  anoder  slabe,  and  de  master,  who  was  good  man,  he 
come  out  to  enquire  about  it.  When  he  heard  how  de  slabe 
had  been  treated,  he  bery  angry  and  say  it  sarbe  oberseer 
right.  When  I  heard  dat  I  spoke  to  de  ole  marse,  de  grand- 
father ob  dis  chile  yeu  know,  he  bery  good  man,  like  his  son, 
and  he  went  to  de  plantation  and  got  de  raarster  to  promise 


A   TIME   OF   WAITING  135 

dal  if  Jake  came  back  to  work  again  he  should  not  be  punished. 
And  he  kept  his  word.  Dat  is  how  me  came  to  know  ob  dis 
place.  Since  dat  time  me  know  dat  many  slabes  hab  hidden 
dere.  Now  dat  de  slabes  are  masters,  for  suah  dey  not  want  to 
go  near  dat  place,  and  neber  dream  dat  Madame  and  Mam'selle 
Myra  know  of  dat  place  and  go  and  hide  dere." 

By  the  time  that  they  reached  the  path  daylight  had  fairly 
broken. 

"  We  are  not  likely  to  meet  anyone  here,  I  hope,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  No,  sah,  de  blacks  in  de  plantations  dey  go  down  by  the 
road  we  shall  cross  —  suah  to  do  dat  to  get  quick  the  news  ob 
what  am  going  on  in  oder  places.  If  one  come  along  here,  dey 
see  you  black,  and  tink  you  nigger  like  demselves.  Mam'selle 
must  slip  into  de  bush,  now  she  got  dat  gown  on,  no  one 
s'pect  her  being  white  a  little  way  off.  Den  if  dere  is  only 
one  or  two,  you  shoot  dem  as  soon  as  dey  come  up,  if  dar 
many  of  them  —  but  dere  no  chance  ob  dat  —  must  make  up 
some  story." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  no  story  would  be  any  good,  Dinah ;  if 
they  came  close  they  would  see  at  once  that  I  am  not  a  negro. 
However,  we  must  hope  that  we  sha'n't  meet  anyone." 

Nat  felt  his  arms  ache  a  good  deal  before  they  arrived  at 
the  road  they  had  to  cross,  and  he  would  have  proposed  a  halt, 
but  he  was  ashamed  to  do  so  while  Dinah  was  going  on  so 
steadily  and  uncomplainingly,  though  he  was  sure  that  her 
share  of  the  weight  was  at  least  as  much  as  his.  He  was 
pleased  when,  as  the  path  approached  the  road,  she  said : 

"  Put  de  barrow  down  now,  Marse  Glober.  You  go  down  on 
de  road  and  see  dat  no  one  is  in  sight,  but  me  not  tink  dere  am 
any  danger.  I  know  dat  dey  rose  at  all  dese  little  plantations 
up  here  yesterday ;  dere  is  suah  to  be  rum  at  some  ob  dem, 
and  dey  will  all  drink  like  hogs,  just  as  dey  did  at  our  place, 
and  won't  be  stirring  till  de  sun  a  long  way  up." 


136  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

In  a  minute  he  returned. 

"  There  is  no  one  in  sight,  Dinah." 

"  Dat  is  all  right,  sah,  now  we  hurry  across ;  once  into  de 
wood  on  de  ober  side  we  safe,  den  we  can  sit  down  and  rest 
for  a  bit." 

"  I  sha'n't  be  sorry,  Dinah.  You  were  quite  right,  my  arms 
have  begun  to  ache  pretty  badly." 

The  negress  laughed. 

"  Me  begin  to  feel  him  too  ;  dese  arms  not  so  young  as  dey 
were.  De  time  was  I  could  hab  carried  de  weight  twice  as  far 
widout  feeling  it." 

When  a  few  hundred  yards  in  the  wood  they  stopped  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  had  a  drink  of  wine  and  water,  and  ate  a 
slice  of  melon  and  a  piece  of  bread. 

"  Now  we  manage  better,"  Dinah  said  as  they  stood  up  to 
continue  the  journey.  "We  hab  plenty  of  blankets,"  and 
taking  one  she  tore  off  a  strip  some  six  inches  wide  and  gave 
it  to  Nat,  and  then  a  similar  strip  for  herself.  "  Now,  sah,  you 
lay  dat  flat  across  your  shoulders,  den  take  de  ends  and  twist 
dem  tree  or  four  times  round  de  handle,  just  de  right  length, 
so  dat  you  can  hold  dem  comfor'ble.  I  'se  going  to  do  de 
same.  Den  you  not  feel  de  weight  on  your  arm,  it  all  on  your 
shoulders ;  you  find  it  quite  easy  den." 

Nat  found,  indeed,  that  the  weight  so  disposed  was  as 
nothing  to  what  it  had  been  when  it  came  entirely  upon  his 
arms.  They  soon  descended  into  the  little  valley  Dinah  had 
spoken  of,  and  she  at  once  emptied  the  rest  of  the  water  out  of 
the  jug. 

"No  use  cany  dat,"  she  said,  " can  get  plenty  now  wheneber 
we  want  it." 

"How  are  you  feeling,  Myra?"  Nat  asked  presently. 

"  I  am  beginning  to  feel  tired,  but  I  can  hold  on  for  a  bit. 
Don't  mind  about  me,  please,  I  shall  do  very  well." 


A  TIME   OF   WAITING  137 

She  was,  however,  limping  badly.  After  going  to  the  end 
of  the  little  dip  they  crossed  the  dividing  spur,  and  presently 
struck  the  other  depression  of  which  Dinah  had  spoken. 

"  There  is  no  water  here,  Dinah  ;  I  hope  it  has  not  dried 
up." 

"  No  fear  ob  dat,  sah.  In  de  wet  season  water  run  here,  but 
not  now  ;  we  find  him  farder  down." 

The  little  valley  deepened  rapidly,  the  sides  became  rocky 
and  broken,  and  to  Nat's  satisfaction  they  presently  came  to  a 
spot  where  a  little  rill  of  water  flowed  out  from  a  fissure  in  the 
rock. 

"  How  much  farther,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  A  lillie  quarter  ob  a  mile." 

The  sides  of  the  valley  closed  in  rapidly,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes they  entered  a  ravine  where  the  rocks  rose  perpendicularly 
on  each  side,  the  passage  between  being  but  seven  or  eight  feet 
wide. 

"  We  jest  dere  now,  dearie,"  Dinah  said  to  Myra,  who  was 
now  so  exhausted  that  she  could  scarce  drag  her  feet  along. 
Another  three  or  four  minutes  and  she  stopped. 

"  Here  we  are,"  she  said.  Nat  looked  round  in  surprise; 
there  was  no  sign  of  any  opening  in  the  rock.  "  It  up  dere," 
Dinah  went  on,  pointing  to  a  clump  of  bushes  growing  on  a 
ledge. 

"Up  there,  Dinah?" 

"  Yes,  sah ;  easy  for  us  to  climb  up.  You  see  where  dere 
are  little  steps  made  ?  " 

A  casual  observer  would  not  have  noticed  them.  They  were 
not  cut  but  hammered  out  of  the  rock,  and  appeared  like  acci- 
dental indentations. 

"  I  see  that  we  can  climb  up,"  he  said,  "but  how  we  are  to 
get  the  litter  up  I  have  no  idea." 

"  No,  sah,  dat  difficult.     I  'se  been  linking  it  ober.    Only 


138  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

possible  way  is  to  take  madame  off  de  barrow  and  carry  her  up. 
You  go  up  once  or  twice,  and  you  see  dat  it  am  not  so  hard  as 
it  seems.  Dese  lower  holes  not  deep,  but  dose  higher  up  much 
deeper,  can  get  foot  well  into  dem." 

"  I  had  better  go  up  and  have  a  look,  Dinah,"  and  Nat 
started  to  ascend.  He  found  that,  as  she  had  said,  it  was 
much  easier  than  it  looked.  The  first  four  or  five  steps,  in- 
deed, were  so  shallow  that  he  could  not  get  much  foothold, 
but  above  there  were  holes  for  the  feet  some  six  or  eight 
inches  deep,  and  three  or  four  feet  apart,  these  being  hidden 
from  the  sight  of  anyone  passing  below  by  a  projecting  ledge 
beneath.  The  holes  were  much  wider  than  necessary,  the 
corners  had  been  filled  with  earth  and  tufts  of  coarse  grass 
planted  there,  and  these  completely  hid  the  openings  from 
sight.  He  soon  reached  the  clump  of  bushes.  Behind  them 
was  a  fissure  some  three  feet  wide  and  four  feet  high.  He 
crawled  into  this,  and  found  that  it  widened  into  a  cave.  He 
was  here  able  to  stand  up,  remaining  motionless  for  a  minute 
or  two  until  his  eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  dim  light. 
Then  he  saw  that  it  was  of  considerable  height,  some  twelve 
feet  wide  and  about  twenty  feet  deep.  This  was  indeed  an 
admirable  place  of  refuge,  and  he  felt  sure  that  no  one,  unless 
previously  acquainted  with  its  existence,  would  be  likely  to 
discover  it.  He  went  to  the  entrance  and  looked  out.  Myra 
was  sitting  down  by  the  side  of  a  little  pool.  She  had  taken 
her  shoes  and  stockings  off,  and  was  bathing  her  blistered  feet. 

"This  is  a  splendid  place,  Myra,"  he  said ;  "  certainly  nobody 
is  ever  likely  to  find  us  here.  The  only  difficulty  is  to  get 
your  mother  up."  He  at  once  rejoined  them  below.  "  The 
difficulty,  Dinah,  is  that  the  face  of  the  rock  is  so  steep  that 
one  cannot  stoop  forward  enough  to  keep  one's  balance  with 
the  weight  on  one's  back.  The  only  possible  way  that  I  can 
conceive  is  to  fasten  Madame  Duchesne  firmly  to  the  barrow 


A  TIME   OF   WAITING  13d 

by  these  strips  of  blanket  that  we  have  been  using.  We  can 
tear  several  more  from  the  same  blanket.  It  will  want  at  least 
half  a  dozen  lashings  to  keep  her  firmly  down,  then  we  must 
knot  the  other  blankets  to  make  a  strong  rope.  I  will  go  up 
with  the  end  and  pull  when  I  get  to  the  top.  You  can  take 
the  lower  handles,  and  by  holding  them  on  a  level  with  your 
shoulders  you  can  steady  the  thing  as  it  comes  up.  You  won't 
want  to  lift,  I  can  pull  her  weight  up  easily  enough,  all  that  you 
have  to  do  is  to  steady  it." 

"  Dat  will  do  bery  well,  sah." 

Six  strips  of  blanket  were  wound  round  Madame  Duchesne 
as  she  lay  on  the  hand-barrow ;  one  was  across  her  forehead 
so  as  to  prevent  her  head  from  dropping  forward,  one  was 
under  the  arms,  and  two  more  round  the  body,  the  other  two 
were  over  her  legs.  The  baskets  and  other  things  had  been 
taken  from  the  barrow.  It  was  now  lifted  on  to  one  end  to 
see  if  there  was  any  sign  of  the  body  slipping.  However,  it 
remained  firm  in  its  upright  position.  The  blankets  had 
already  been  knotted  by  Nat,  whose  training  enabled  him  to 
fasten  them  so  securely  that  there  was  no  risk  of  their  slipping. 
Then  he  ascended  to  the  top  of  the  steps  and  took  his  place  on 
the  little  platform  on  which  the  bushes  were  growing. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  will  raise  it  a  few  inches  to  see  that  it 
is  properly  balanced."  He  had  already  seen  that  the  proposal 
that  Dinah  should  steady  it  from  below  was  not  feasible. 
Although  the  first  step  was  immediately  below  the  bushes,  the 
others  varied  considerably,  some  being  almost  in  the  same  line 
as  those  next  to  them,  so  that  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  the 
holes  were  six  feet  to  the  right  of  the  spot  from  which  they 
had  started,  having  evidently  been  so  constructed  that  from 
below,  had  anyone  noticed  them,  they  appeared  to  go  away 
from  the  bushes,  to  which,  from  the  last  hole  that  could  be 
seen  from  below,  there  was  no  communication  whatever.  The 


140  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

ledge,  however,  although  scarce  noticeable  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ravine,  was  really  some  eight  inches  wide,  and  from  this 
but  one  step  was  necessary  to  gain  a  footing  on  the  platform. 
Dinah,  standing  below,  steadied  the  barrow  as  high  as  she 
could  reach  the  ends  of  the  handles,  and  Nat  then,  leaning 
over,  managed  to  raise  it  to  his  level  without  doing  more  than 
scraping  the  face  of  the  rock  as  it  rose.  Dinah  was  on  the 
ledge  to  receive  it  and  pass  it  up  to  him,  and  Nat  had  soon 
the  satisafaction  of  seeing  it  laid  safely  down  in  the  cave.  Myra 
was  then  got  up  without  any  difficulty.  She  clapped  her  hands 
as  she  entered  the  cave. 

"  This  is  splendid,  Nat !  I  never  dreamt  that  there  could  be 
such  a  safe  hiding-place." 

"  It  had  to  be,  mam'selle,"  Dinah  said,  "  for  dey  hunt  run- 
away slabes  with  blood-hounds.  Slabes  dat  escape  here  keep 
all  de  way  in  de  water.  De  bit  between  de  pools  is  all  bare 
rock,  not  nice  to  walk  on,  but  bery  good  for  scent,  dat  pass 
off  in  very  short  time,  den  walk  down  here  in  dis  water  dat 
you  see  below  us.  Eben  blood-hounds  cannot  smell  track  in 
water.  If  dey  came  down  here  might  smell  de  steps,  but 
neber  come  here." 

"  Could  they  come  up  the  other  way,  Dinah  ?  " 

"You  go  and  look  for  yourself,  sah,  but  mind  you  be 
careful." 

The  wrappings  had  now  been  taken  off  Madame  Duchesne, 
and  the  blankets  replaced  beneath  her.  She  was  still  ap- 
parently sound  asleep.  Dinah  took  up  the  jug  and  went  to 
the  entrance,  Nat  followed  her. 

"You  have  not  given  her  too  strong  a  dose  I  hope,  Dinah?" 

"  No,  sah,  no  fear  ob  dat,  she  soon  wake  now.  I  shall 
sprinkle  water  in  her  face,  and  pour  a  lillie  wine  down  her 
troat,  you  see  she  wake  den." 

"  Will  she  be  sensible,  Dinah?" 


A  TIME   OF  WATTING  141 

"  Not  at  first,  sah.  She  'tupid  for  a  bit,  abler  dat  it  depend 
on  feber.  If  feber  strong,  she  no  sensible,  talk  to  herself  just 
as  if  dreaming  ;  if  feber  not  very  strong  she  know  us,  but  more 
likely  not  know  us  for  some  time.  Me  got  feber  medicine, 
neber  fear.  Feber  come  on  too  quick  to  be  bery  strong.  When 
feber  come  on  slow,  den  it  seem  to  poison  all  ober,  take  long 
time  to  get  well ;  when  it  come  on  sudden  like  this,  not  like  to 
be  bery  bad." 

"  Well,  we  must  have  patience,  Dinah,  and  hope  for  the  best. 
Now  I  will  go  down  with  you  and  fetch  all  the  things  up." 

As  soon  as  these  were  all  housed  in  the  cave,  Nat  said  to 
Myra,  "I  will  explore  down  the  stream  and  see  what  chance 
there  is  of  anyone  coming  up  that  way.  Dinah  evidently 
thinks  that  there  is  no  fear  of  it,  but  I  should  like  to  see  for 
myself." 

Fifty  yards  farther  on  there  was  a  sharp  widening  of  the 
ravine,  and  here  some  trees  and  thick  undergrowth  had  taken 
root,  and  so  overhung  the  little  stream  that  Nat  had  difficulty 
in  making  his  way  through  them.  He  remembered  Dinah's 
warning,  and  advanced  cautiously.  Suddenly  he  stopped. 
The  stream  fell  away  abruptly  in  front  of  him,  and,  advancing 
cautiously  to  that  point,  he  stood  at  the  edge  of  an  abrupt 
fall.  A  wall  of  almost  perpendicular  rock  rose  on  each  side, 
and  the  streamlet  leaped  sheer  down  fifty  feet  into  a  pool ;  as 
far  as  he  could  see  the  chasm  remained  unbroken. 

"Splendid,"  he  said  to  himself;  "no  one  coming  up  here 
would  be  likely  to  try  farther.  The  bushes  regularly  interlace 
over  the  water,  and  there  seems  no  possible  way  of  climbing 
up,  at  any  rate,  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  this  place,  and 
for  aught  I  know  this  ravine  may  go  on  for  another  mile. 
Any  party  coming  up  would  certainly  conclude  that  no  slave 
could  approach  this  way,  and  they  would  have  to  make  a 
tremendous  detour  over  the  hills  and  get  to  the  point  where 


142  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

the  valley  comes  down  to  the  cave.  It  is  certainly  a  grand 
hiding-place.  I  suppose  when  it  was  first  discovered  those 
bushes  did  not  grow  in  front  of  it;  likely  enough  they  were 
planted  on  purpose  to  hide  the  entrance,  and  the  place  may 
have  been  used  by  escaped  slaves  ever  since  the  Spaniards 
first  landed  on  the  island  and  began  to  persecute  the  unfor- 
tunate natives.  Unless  some  of  the  negroes  who  know  of  it 
put  the  mulattoes  up  to  the  secret,  they  may  search  as  much 
as  they  like  but  will  never  find  us.  I  must  ask  Dinah  whether 
there  are  many  who  know  of  it." 

On  returning  to  the  cave  he  found  that  Madame  Duchesne 
had  wakened  from  her  long  sleep.  She  was,  however,  quite 
unconscious;  her  eyes  were  opened,  and  she  was  muttering 
rapidly  to  herself.  Myra  was  sitting  beside  her  with  the  tears 
streaming  down  her  cheeks. 

"You  must  not  be  alarmed,"  he  said.  "Dinah  told  me  she 
would  be  so  when  she  woke  up,  but  she  thinks  that  though  the 
attack  of  fever  will  be  a  sharp  one,  it  will  not  last  very  long. 
It  is  not,  as  is  the  case  with  new-comers  on  the  island,  the 
result  of  malaria,  or  anything  of  that  sort,  but  of  agitation  and 
fatigue." 

"Hab  you  been  down  de  stream,  Marse  Glober?"  Dinah 
asked. 

"Yes,  and  you  were  quite  right.  There  is  no  fear  whatever 
of  any  one  coming  to  look  for  us  from  that  direction.  Are 
there  many  negroes  who  know  the  secret  of  this  place?" 

"Bery  few,"  she  said.  "It  am  tole  only  to  men  who  are 
going  to  take  to  de  hills,  and  who  can't  go  farder,  'cause  per- 
haps dey  been  flogged  till  dey  too  weak  to  travel  many  miles. 
Each  man  who  is  tole  has  to  take  a  great  oath  dat  he  suah  tell 
no  one  except  anober  slabe  running  away,  or  someone  who  hab 
to  go  to  take  food  to  him  ;  dat  is  how  I  came  to  know.  Jake 
had  been  tole  when  dey  knew  he  going  to  run  away.  He  tole 


A  TIME  OF  WAITING  143 

his  broder,  my  husband,  cause  he  had  been  flogged  so  bad  he 
could  not  go  to  de  mountains.  Den  my  husband  tole  me, 
'cause  he  could  not  get  away  wid  de  food.  I  neber  tell  anyone 
till  now,  cause  dere  no  occasion  for  it ;  slabes  treated  too  well 
at  our  plantation  to  want  to  run  away.  But  dere  am  no  doubt 
dat  dere  am  slabes  in  oder  plantations  dat  know  of  him,  but 
me  no  tink  dey  tell.  In  de  first  place  dey  take  big  oath,  and 
dey  suah  to  die  ef  dey  break  dat ;  in  de  next  place,  because 
dey  no  tell  dem  mulattoes,  because  some  day  perhaps  dese  will 
be  oberseers  again,  and  den  de  secret  of  de  cave  be  no  longer 
ob  use." 

"  That  is  good,  Dinah ;  those  scoundrels  I  overheard  talking 
the  other  night  will  no  doubt  ask  if  any  of  the  negroes  know 
of  any  place  where  we  should  be  likely  to  hide,  and  if  no  one 
knows  it  but  yourself  they  would  be  able  to  get  no  information, 
and  it  is  hardly  likely  that  they  would  ask  the  negroes  of 
another  plantation.  Now,  what  is  the  first  thing  to  be  done, 
Dinah?" 

"  De  first  ting,  sah,  is  to  gader  sticks  to  make  fire." 

"  All  right.  I  will  go  up  the  ravine  and  bring  down  a  bundle 
of  dry  sticks  from  the  forest.  I  will  get  them  as  dry  as  possible, 
so  as  not  to  make  a  smoke." 

"  No  fear  of  anyone  see  smoke,  massa.  We  no  want  great  fire, 
and  smoke  all  scatter  before  it  get  to  top  of  de  trees  up  above." 

"  Well,  I  will  get  them  at  once,"  he  said. 

"  I  will  pluck  two  of  the  fowls  while  you  are  away,"  Myra 
said.  "  I  want  to  be  doing  something." 

"  When  you  come  back,  sah,  I  will  go  out  and  gader  berries 
to  make  colour  for  your  face.  When  you  hab  got  dat  done, 
not  much  fear  of  your  being  known." 

"You  will  have  to  get  something  to  colour  my  hair,  too," 
Nat  said.  "  I  never  could  pass  as  a  mulatto  with  this  yellowish- 
brown  hair." 


144  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"Dat  for  true,"  Dinah  assented.  "I'se  brought  'tuff  to 
make  dat,  but  had  no  time  to  look  for  berries  for  skin.  When 
you  come  back  we  make  fire  first ;  me  want  boiling  water  for 
de  med'cine  me  make  for  madame." 

"Yes,  of  course,  that  is  the  first  thing,"  Nat  said.  "And 
when  you  go  anywhere  to  get  provisions,  Dinah,  it  would  be  a 
good  thing  if  you  could  get  us  a  few  yards  of  cord ;  it  would  be 
very  handy  for  tying  up  faggots,  and  would  be  useful  in  all  sorts 
of  ways." 

"  Me  will  see  about  dat,  sah.  Me  forgot  'im  altogeder  when 
me  came  away,  else  would  have  brought  a  length;  but  you 
will  find  plenty  ob  creepers  dat  will  do  bery  well  to  tie  up 
faggots." 

"  So  I  shall,  Dinah ;  I  forgot  that,"  and  Nat  started  at  once. 

In  an  hour  he  was  back  again  with  a  huge  bundle  of  dry 
wood. 

"  Where  would  you  light  it  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Jest  inside  entrance,  sah.  Dis  good  wood  dat  you  hab 
brought,  make  bery  lillie  smoke." 

After  a  little  water  had  been  boiled  and  Dinah  had  stewed 
some  herbs  and  chips  of  wood  she  had  brought  up  with  her, 
the  two  fowls  were  cut  up  and  the  joints  spitted  on  the  ramrod 
of  a  pistol  and  grilled  over  the  fire,  as  in  this  way  they  would 
cook  much  more  rapidly  than  if  whole.  As  soon  as  they  were 
ready  the  party  made  a  hearty  meal.  The  medicine  was  by 
this  time  cool,  and  Madame  Duchesne  was  lifted  up  and  the 
cup  held  to  her  lips.  She  drank  the  draught  without  difficulty. 
Her  face  was  now  flushed,  and  her  hands  burning  hot. 

"  What  will  that  do,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  Dat  most  de  bark  of  a  tree  dat  will  get  de  feber  down, 
sah.  I  'se  going  to  gib  her  dat  ebery  two  hours ;  den  when  we 
see  dat  de  feber  abate,  we  give  her  oder  stuff  to  trow  her 
into  great  sweat ;  abler  dat  she  get  better.  Now,  while  I  am 


A  TIME   OF   WAITING  145 

away,  mam'selle,  you  boil  water,  cut  up  half  ob  one  of  dem 
pine-apples,  and  when  de  water  boil  take  'im  off  de  fire  and 
put  de  pine-apple  in ;  and  let  'im  cool,  dat  make  bery  nice 
drink  for  her.  Now  me  go  and  find  dem  berries." 

Dinah  was  away  two  hours,  and  returned  with  an  apronful 
of  brown  berries ;  and  with  these,  after  Nat  had  washed  all  the 
black  from  his  face  and  hands,  he  was  again  stained,  as  was 
Myra  also.  She  had  rather  a  darker  tinge  given  to  her  than 
that  which  was  considered  sufficient  for  Nat. 

"  It  make  you  too  dark,  sah ;  yo'  light  eyes  show  too  much. 
Mam'selle  hab  brown  eyes  and  dark  hair,  and  me  make  her 
regular  little  mulatto  girl.  When  get  handkerchief  round  her 
head,  and  wid  dat  spot  gown  on,  no  one  'spect  her  ob  being 
white." 

"  You  have  brought  in  a  great  supply  of  berries,  Dinah  ? " 

"  Yes,  sah ;  put  on  stain  fresh  ebery  two  or  tree  days." 

When  it  became  dusk  the  candle  was  taken  out  of  the  lantern, 
lighted,  and  stuck  against  the  side  of  the  cave.  Dinah  opened 
a  bag  and  took  out  a  handful  of  coffee  berries,  which  she  roasted 
over  the  fire  in  a  small  frying-pan  which  she  had  brought  in 
addition  to  the  pot.  When  they  were  pounded  up  between 
two  stones,  some  sugar  was  produced,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  Madame  Duchesne's  state  Myra  and  Nat  would  have  really 
enjoyed  their  meal.  Then  Dinah  took  from  the  basket  a 
bundle  of  dried  tobacco  leaves,  rolled  a  cigar  for  Nat  and  one 
for  herself. 

"  Dat  is  what  me  call  comfort,"  she  said,  as  she  puffed  the 
weed  with  intense  enjoyment.  "  Bacca  am  de  greatest  pleasure 
dat  de  slabes  hab  after  their  work  be  done." 

"  It  is  a  nasty  habit,  Dinah.  I  have  told  you  so  a  great 
many  times." 

"Yes,  mam'selle,  you  tink  so.  You  got  a  great  many  oder 
nice  tings  a  slabe  not  got,  many  nice  tings ;  but  when  dey  got 


146  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

bacca  dey  got  eberyting  dey  want.  You  no  call  it  nasty, 
Marse  Glober?" 

"  No  ;  I  like  it.  I  never  smoked  till  after  I  got  that  hurt 
from  the  dog,  but  not  being  able  to  do  things  like  other  fellows, 
I  took  to  smoking.  I  like  it,  and  the  doctor  told  me  that  it 
was  a  capital  preventive  against  fever." 

"  Do  they  allow  smoking  on  board  ship,  Nat?  " 

"  Well,  of  course  it  is  not  allowed  on  duty,  and  it  is  not 
allowed  for  midshipmen  at  all ;  but  of  an  evening,  if  we  go 
forward,  the  officers  on  watch  never  take  any  notice.  And 
now  about  to-morrow,  Dinah.  Of  course  I  am  most  anxious 
to  know  what  the  news  is,  and  whether  this  rising  has  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  of  the  island,  and  if  it  is  true  that 
everywhere  they  have  murdered  the  whites." 

"  Yes,  sah,  me  understand  dat." 

"Then  I  want,  if  it  is  possible,  to  send  a  line  down  to 
Monsieur  Duchesne  to  let  him  know  that  his  wife  and  daughter 
have  escaped  and  are  in  a  place  of  safety.  He  must  be  in  a 
terrible  state.  The  question  is,  how  would  it  be  possible  to 
send  such  a  note?" 

"  Me  tink  dat  me  could  manage  it,  sah.  My  grandson  Pete 
bery  sharp  boy.  Me  tink  'he  might  manage  to  get  down  to  de 
town,  but  de  letter  must  be  a  bery  lillie  one,  so  dat  he  can  hide 
it  in  him  woolly  head.  He  might  be  searched,  and  dey  kill 
'im  for  suah  if  dey  find  he  take  letter  to  white  man.  He 
sharp  as  a  needle,  and  often  take  messages  from  one  of  our 
slabes  to  anoder  on  plantation  eber  so  far  away.  Me  quite 
suah  dat  he  bery  glad  to  carry  letter  for  mam'selle  —  make  him 
as  proud  as  peacock.  When  dey  in  der  senses  all  de  slabes  lobe 
her  because  she  allus  speaks  kindly  to  dem.  He  go  suah 
enough,  and  bring  message  back." 

"  It  is  lucky  that  I  have  a  pencil  with  me,"  Nat  said,  and 
drawing  out  a  pocket-book  he  tore  out  a  leaf.  "  Now,  if  you 


A  TIME   OF  WAITING  147 

will  tell  me  what  to  say,  Myra,  I  will  write  in  your  name." 
He  went  over  to  the  candle.  "You  must  cut  it  very  short, 
you  know.  I  will  write  it  as  small  as  I  can,  but  you  must  not 
send  more  than  one  leaf." 

Dearest  Papa,  Myra  dictated,  we  have  got  away.  Dinah 
warned  us  in  time,  and  mamma,  Nat,  and  I  ran  up  through  the 
shrubbery  and  the  cane-fields  to  the  forest.  When  it  got  dark  — 
"  After  dark"  Nat  put  in,  "  you  must  not  use  more  words  than 
is  necessary  "  —  Nat  went  down,  found  Dinah,  and  brought  her 
up,  and  they  brought  lots  of  things  for  us,  and  next  morning  carried 
mamma  to  this  place,  which  is  in  the  mountains  and  very  safe. 
Mamma  has  got  fever  from  the  fright  we  had,  but  Dinah  says  she 
will  not  be  ill  long.  We  are  both  dressed  up  in  Dinah's  clothes,  and 
Nat  and  I  have  been  stained  brown,  and  we  look  like  mulattoes.  Do 
not  be  anxious  about  us  ;  the  negroes  may  search  everywhere  without 
finding  us.  Nat  has  a  brace  of  pistols,  and  mamma  and  I  have  one 
each,  and  he  will  take  care  of  us  and  bring  us  down  safe  as  soon  as 
Dinah  thinks  it  can  be  done.  I  hope  to  see  you  again  soon. 

Your  most  loving 

MYRA. 

"  That  just  fills  it,"  Nat  said  as  he  rolled  it  up  into  a  little 
ball. 

Dinah  looked  at  it  doubtfully. 

"  I  'se  feared  dat  too  big  to  hide  in  him  wool,"  she  said ;  "  it 
bery  kinky." 

"  Never  mind  that  He  must  manage  to  straighten  it  out 
and  sew  it  somewhere  in  his  clothes.  What  time  will  you 
start,  Dinah?" 

"  Me  start  so  as  to  get  down  to  de  plantation  before  it  get 
light.  Me  can  find  de  way  troo  de  wood  easy  'nuff.  It 
bery  different  ting  to  walk  by  oneself,  instead  ob  having  to 


148  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

carry  madame  and  to  take  'tickler  care  dat  she  goes  along 
smoove  and  dat  de  barrow  doesn't  knock  against  anyting. 
Best  for  me  to  be  back  before  anyone  wake  up.  Me  don't  sup- 
pose anyone  link  of  me  yesterday.  Me  told  my  darter  Chloe 
dat  she  say  noting  about  me.  If  anyone  ask  her,  den  she 
say  :  '  Mover  bery  sad  at  house  being  burnt  down  and  madame 
and  mam'selle  run  away.  I  tink  she  hab  gone  away  to  be 
alone  and  hab  a  cry  to  herself,  cause  as  she  nurse  both  ob  dem 
she  bery  fond  of  dem,  and  no  like  to  tink  dat  perhaps  dey  be 
caught  and  killed.'  But  me  no  'spect  dat  anyone  tink  about 
me ;  dey  hab  oder  tings  to  tink  of.  If  I  had  run  into  wood 
when  you  run  dere,  dey  know  dat  I  give  you  warning  and 
perhaps  show  you  some  place  to  hide,  but  abler  you  had  gone  I 
ran  in  again  and  met  dem  outside  wid  de  oder  house  servants. 
I  top  dere  and  see  dem  burn  de  house,  and  den  walk  down 
to  Chloe's  house  and  talk  to  oder  women ;  so  no  one  tink  dat 
I  know  more  'bout  you  dan  anyone  else." 

"  That  was  very  wise,  Dinah.  Now  mind,  what  we  particu- 
larly want  to  know  is  not  only  what  the  negroes  have  done,  but 
what  they  are  going  to  do.  Are  they  going  to  march  away  to 
the  hills,  or  are  they  going  to  attack  the  town  ?  " 

Dinah  nodded. 

"  Me  see  all  about  dat,  sah.  Now,  mam'selle,  don't  you  for- 
get to  gib  your  mamma  de  medicine  ebery  two  hours  !  " 

"  I  sha'n't  forget,  Dinah." 

Dinah  took  up  the  basket. 

"  Me  bring  up  bread  and  more  chicken,  and  more  wine  if 
dey  hab  not  drunk  it  all.  Now  keep  up  your  heart,  dearie ; 
ebery  ting  come  right  in  de  end,"  and  with  a  cheerful  nod  she 
started  on  her  errand. 

"  Your  nurse  is  a  trump,  Myra,"  Nat  said.  "  We  should  feel 
very  helpless  without  her,  though  of  course  I  should  do  what  I 
could.  When  she  comes  back  to-morrow  I  will  go  out  myself. 


A  TIME   OF   WAITING  149 

I  hate  to  sit  here  doing  nothing  when  all  the  island  is  in  a 
blaze." 

"  I  wish  I  knew  what  has  become  of  the  family  of  Madame 
Bayou.  Her  daughter  Julie  is  my  greatest  friend.  You  know 
them  well,  Nat,  for  we  drove  over  there  several  times  when 
you  were  with  us,  and  Madame  Bayou  and  Julie  often  spent 
the  day  with  us.  Of  course  they  were  not  quite  of  our  class,  as 
Monsieur  Bayou  is  only  superintendent  to  the  Count  de  Noe, 
who  has  been  in  France  for  some  years ;  but  he  is  a  gentleman 
by  birth,  and,  I  believe,  a  distant  relation  of  the  count's,  and 
as  they  were  our  nearest  neighbours  and  Julie  is  just  my  age  we 
were  very  intimate." 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  remember  them  well,  and  that  coachman 
of  theirs.  I  generally  had  a  talk  with  him  when  they  were 
over  at  your  place.  He  was  a  wonderfully  intelligent  fellow 
for  a  negro.  He  told  me  that  he  had  been  taught  by  another 
black,  who  had  been  educated  by  some  missionaries.  He  could 
read  and  write  well,  and  even  knew  a  little  Latin." 

"  Yes,  I  have  heard  papa  say  that  he  was  the  most  intelli- 
gent negro  he  had  ever  met,  and  that  he  was  very  much 
respected  by  all  the  negroes  round.  I  know  M.  Bayou  had  the 
greatest  confidence  in  him,  and  I  can't  help  thinking  that  even 
if  all  the  others  broke  out  he  would  have  saved  the  lives  of  the 
family." 

"  If  you  like  I  will  go  down  and  see  to-morrow  evening.  I 
agree  with  you  that  it  is  likely  he  would  be  faithful,  but  he 
may  not  have  been  able  to  be  so.  However  much  he  may  be 
respected  by  the  other  blacks,  one  man  can  do  very  little  when 
a  crowd  of  others  half  mad  with  excitement  are  against  him  ; 
and  I  suppose  after  all  that  it  would  be  only  natural  that  his 
sympathies  should  be  with  men  of  his  own  colour,  and  being  so 
exceptionally  well  educated  and  intelligent  he  would  naturally 
be  chosen  as  one  of  their  leaders.  However,  he  may  have 


150  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

warned  the  family,  and  possibly  they  may  be  hiding  somewhere 
in  the  woods  just  as  we  are.  I  should  hope  that  a  great  many 
families  have  been  saved  that  way." 

"  Will  it  be  neeessary  to  keep  watch  to-night,  Nat  ?  " 

"  No,  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  risk.  Even  the  negroes 
who  know  of  this  cave  will  not  think  of  looking  for  us  here, 
as  they  would  not  imagine  we  could  be  acquainted  with  its 
existence.  I  think  we  can  safely  take  a  good  night's  rest,  and 
we  shall  be  all  the  better  for  it." 

It  was  not  till  nearly  daylight  on  the  second  day  after  start- 
ing that  Dinah  returned. 

"  Me  not  able  to  get  away  before,"  she  said.  "  In  de  first 
place  me  hab  to  wait  till  boy  come  back  wid  answer.  Here 
'tis,"  and  she  pulled  a  small  pellet  of  paper  from  her  hair. 

Myra  seized  it  and  flattened  it  out. 

Thank  God  for  the  good  news.  I  have  been  nearly  mad.  At 
present  can  do  nothing.  We  expect  to  be  attacked  every  hour. 
God  protect  you  both. 

There  was  no  signature.  Monsieur  Duchesne  was  evidently 
afraid  that,  were  the  note  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  revolting 
leaders,  a  fresh  search  would  be  instituted  by  them. 

"  Dat  boy  bery  nearly  killed,"  Dinah  said.  "  He  creep  and 
crawl  troo  de  blacks  widout  being  seen,  and  get  close  to  de 
white  men  out  guarding  de  place.  Dey  seize  him  and  say  he 
spy,  and  bery  near  hang  him ;  den  he  took  out  de  paper  just 
in  time,  and  said  it  for  Massa  Duchesne ;  den  dey  march  him 
to  town,  woke  up  massa,  and  den,  ob  course,  it  was  all  right. 
It  too  late  to  come  back  dat  night,  but  he  crawl  out  and  lie 
close  to  where  dose  black  rascals  were  watching.  Directly  it 
get  dark  he  get  up,  he  crawl  troo  dem,  and  run  bery  hard 
back,  and  directly  he  gib  me  paper  I  start  back  here." 


A  TIME   OF   WATTING  151 

"That  was  very  good  of  him,"  Myra  said;  "when  these 
troubles  are  over,  Dinah,  you  may  be  sure  that  my  father  will 
reward  him  handsomely." 

"  Me  suah  of  dat,  mam'selle.  He  offer  him  ten  louis,  but 
Jake  say  no,  if  he  be  searched  and  dat  gold  found  on  'im  dey 
hang  'm  up  for  suah.  Marse  say  bery  good,  do  much  more  dan 
dat  for  him  when  dese  troubles  ober.  And  now,  dearie,  how 
is  madame  going  on  ? "  and  she  went  to  the  side  of  Madame 
Duchesne,  put  her  hand  on  her  forehead,  and  listened  to  her 
breathing.  She  turned  round  with  a  satisfied  nod.  "  Feber 
nearly  gone,"  she  said  ;  "  two  or  tree  days  she  open  eyes  and 
know  us." 

"  And  how  did  you  get  on,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  Me  hab  no  trouble,  sah  ;  most  ob  de  black  fellows  drunk 
all  de  day  long.  Nobody  noticed  dat  Dinah  was  not  dere. 
Some  of  de  women  dey  say,  '  What  you  do  all  day  yesterday, 
Dinah?'  and  me  say,  'Me  ill,  me  no  like  dese  doings.'  Dey 
talk  and  say,  '  Grand  ting  eberyone  be  free,  eberyone  hab 
plenty  ob  land,  no  work  any  more.'  I  say,  '  Dat  so,  but  what 
de  use  ob  land  if  no  work  ?  where  dey  get  cloth  for  dress  ? 
where  dey  get  meal  and  rice  ?  Dey  link  all  dese  things  grow 
widout  work.  What  dey  do  when  dey  old,  or  when  dey  ill  ? 
Who  look  after  dem  ?  '  Some  ob  dem  want  to  quarrel ;  oders 
say,  '  Dinah  old  woman,  she  hab  plenty  sense,  what  she  say  she 
say  for  true.'  Me  tell  dem  dat  me  no  able  to  'tand  sight  ob 
house  burnt,  no  one  at  work  in  fields,  madame  and  darter  gone, 
no  one  know  where  —  perhaps  killed.  Dinah  go  and  live  by 
herself  in  de  wood,  only  come  down  sometimes  when  she  want 
food.  She  say  dat  to  'splain  why  she  go  away  and  come  back 
sometimes." 

"A  very  good  idea,  very  good,"  Nat  said  warmly;  "the 
women  were  not  wrong  when  they  said  you  had  plenty  of  good 
sense.  And  now,  Dinah,  what  is  the  news  from  other  parts  of 
the  island?" 


152  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

The  old  nurse  was  at  the  moment  standing  partly  behind 
Myra,  and  she  shook  her  head  over  the  girl's  shoulder  to  show 
that  she  did  not  wish  to  say  anything  before  her,  then  she 
replied : 

"  Plenty  ob  talk,  some  say  one  ting  some  anoder ;  not  worf 
listen  to  such  foolishness." 


CHAPTER  IX 

AN  ATTACK  ON  THE   CAVE 

DINAH  lay  down  for  a  short  sleep.  It  was  far  too  late  for 
Nat  to  start  for  Count  de  Noe's  plantation,  and  when  it 
was  broad  daylight,  he  went  down  to  the  pool  for  a  bathe. 
When  he  returned,  Dinah  was  standing  at  the  entrance.  She 
held  up  her  hand  to  signal  to  him  to  stay  below.  She  came 
down  the  steps,  and  sat  down  with  him  on  a  stone  twenty  or 
thirty  yards  up  the  stream. 

"Mam'selle  hab  gone  to  sleep  again,"  she  said;  "now  we 
can  talk  quiet." 

"  And  what  is  your  news,  Dinah  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Marse  Glober,  it  am  jest  awful.  It  seem  to  Dinah  dat  all 
de  black  folk  in  dis  island  am  turned  into  debils  —  from  ebery- 
whar  de  same  story  —  eberywhar  de  white  massas  and  de 
ladies  and  de  childer  all  killed.  Dat  not  de  worst,  sah,  dey  not 
content  wid  killing  dem,  dey  put  dem  to  horrible  tortures.  Me 
can't  tell  you  all  de  terrible  tings  dat  I  'se  heard ;  me  jest  tell 
you  one,  dat  enough  for  you  to  guess  what  de  oders  are. 
Dey  caught  one  white  man,  a  carpenter,  dey  tied  'im  between 
two  planks  and  dey  carry  'im  to  his  saw-pit  and  dey  saw  'im 
asunder.  In  one  place  de  niggers  march  to  attack  town,  and 


AN   ATTACK   ON   THE   CAVE  153 

what  you  tink  dey  take  for  dere  flag  ?  A  lilly  white  baby  wid 
a  spear  run  troo  him.  As  to  de  ladies,  me  can  no  speak 
of  de  awful  tings  me  hab  heard.  You  quite  right  to  gib  pistol 
to  madame  and  mam'selle,  dey  do  well  shoot  demselves 
before  dese  yellow  and  black  debits  get  hold  of  dem.  Me 
neber  tink  dat  me  hab  shame  for  my  colour,  now  I  hab  shame ; 
if  me  could  lift  my  hands  and  ebery  mulatto  and  black  man  in 
dis  island  all  fall  dead,  me  lift  dem  now,  and  me  glad  me  fall 
dead  wid  de  rest." 

"  This  is  awful,  indeed,  Dinah ;  as  you  say  the  negroes  seem 
to  have  become  fiends.  I  could  understand  it  in  plantations 
where  they  are  badly  treated,  but  it  is  certain  that  this  was 
quite  the  exception,  and  that,  on  the  whole,  they  were  com- 
fortable and  happy  before  this  trouble  began.  I  know  they 
were  on  Monsieur  Duchesne's  estate,  and  on  all  those  I  visited 
when  I  was  here  before.  I  do  not  say  they  might  not  have 
preferred  to  be  free." 

"What  good  dat  do  dem,  sah?  If  free,  not  work;  dey 
worse  off  dan  when  slabes.  Where  dey  get  close  ?  where  dey 
get  food?  what  dey  do  when  dey  get  old?  Look  at  Dinah,  she 
allus  comfor'ble  and  happy.  She  could  work  now  tho'  she  old, 
but  she  hab  no  work  to  do  'cept  when  she  like  to  dust  room  ; 
she  get  plenty  ob  good  food,  she  know  well  dat  howeber  old 
she  live,  massa  and  madame  make  her  comfor'ble.  Suppose  she 
like  de  oders,  and  stop  down  at  de  huts,  what  den  ?  who  gib  de 
ole  woman  food  ?  who  gib  her  close  ?  who  gib  her  wine  and 
medicine?  No,  sah,  dis  am  bad  business  all  troo — terrible 
bad  for  white  men,  terrible  bad  for  black  men,  terrible  bad  for 
eberyone. 

"  Next  you  see  come  de  turn  of  de  white  man.  Dey  come 
out  from  de  towns,  plenty  guns  and  powder,  dey  attack  de 
blacks,  dey  shoot  dem  down  like  dogs,  dey  hunt  dem  troo 
de  hills ;  dey  show  dem  no  mercy,  and  dey  don't  deserve  none, 


154  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

massa.  It  would  hab  been  better  had  big  wave  come  swallow 
dis  island  up,  better  for  eberyone  ;  white  man  go  to  white  man's 
heaben,  good  black  man  go  to  heaben,  either  de  same  heaben, 
or  de  black  man's  heaben.  Now,  suah  enough,  dere  no  heaben 
for  dese  black  men  who  hab  done  dese  tings,  dey  all  shut  out ; 
dey  no  let  dem  in  'cause  dey  hab  blood  on  dere  hands,  me 
heard  priest  say  dat  St.  Peter  he  sit  at  de  gate.  Well,  sah, 
you  bery  suah  dat  St.  Peter  him  shake  him  head  when  black 
fellow  from  dis  island  come  up  and  ask  to  go  in.  All  dis 
dreadful,  massa ; "  and  the  tears  ran  plentifully  down  the  old 
nurse's  cheeks. 

"  It  won't  be  as  bad  as  that,  Dinah,"  Nat  said  soothingly. 
"  There  must  be  a  great  many  who  have  taken  no  part  in  this 
horrible  affair,  and  who  have  only  risen  because  they  were 
afraid  to  hang  back." 

"Don't  you  whisper  word  to  Mam'selle  Myra  'bout  dese 
tings,  Marse  Glober." 

"  You  may  be  sure  that  I  shall  not  do  so,  Dinah ;  but  cer- 
tainly I  shall,  whenever  I  leave  her,  tell  her  not  to  hesitate  to 
use  her  pistol  against  herself." 

"If  de  negroes  find  dis  cave,  you  trust  to  me,"  the 
negress  said  firmly.  "  I  'se  heard  dat  it  bery  wicked  ting 
to  kill  oneself.  Bery  well,  sah,  me  won't  let  madame  and 
mam'selle  do  wicked  ting.  Dinah  got  long  knife  hidden,  if 
dey  come  Dinah  kill  bofe  ob  dem,  den  dey  no  do  wicked 
deed.  As  to  Dinah,  she  poor  ole  negro  woman.  Better  dat 
St.  Peter  say  to  her,  '  You  no  come  in,  dere  blood  on  hands,' 
dan  dat  he  should  say  dat  to  de  two  white  ladies  she  hab 
nursed." 

Nat's  eyes  were  moist,  and  his  voice  shook  at  this  proof  of 
the  old  woman's  devotion,  and  he  said  unsteadily  : 

"  St.  Peter  would  not  blame  you,  Dinah.  He  would  know 
why  there  was  blood  on  your  hands,  and  he  would  say,  '  Come 


AN  ATTACK  ON  THE   CAVE  156 

in,  you  have  rendered  to  your  mistresses  the  last  and  greatest 
services  possible.'" 

After  breakfast  Dinah  washed  his  shirt,  his  white  nankeen 
trousers,  and  jacket,  and,  as  he  had  not  a  red  sash  to  wind 
round  his  waist,  he  took  the  ornaments  and  slings  from  his 
sword-belt  and  put  this  on. 

"You  pass  bery  well,  sah,  for  mulatto  man;  de  only  ting 
am  de  hat.  Dat  red  handkerchief  bery  well  when  you  pretend 
to  be  negro,  but  not  suit  mulatto,  and  Dinah  will  go  see  what 
she  find  at  dose  plantation  on  de  hills." 

"  No,  Dinah,  you  must  not  run  risks." 

"  No  risk  in  dat,  sah.  Dinah  known  bery  well  at  most  of 
de  plantations  round.  I'se  got  a  name  for  hab  good  medi- 
cines for  febers,  and  ointments  for  sores,  and  women  dat  hab 
childer  ill  bring  dein  down  to  me  from  all  parts.  Bery  simple 
for  me  to  go  round  and  say  dat  now  de  house  gone  and  de 
ladies  and  all,  me  not  like  to  stay  down  dere  and  be  trouble 
to  my  darters.  Plenty  for  'em  to  do  to  keep  demselves  and 
der  childer.  Me  going  to  trabel  round  de  country  and  nurse 
de  sick  and  sell  my  medicines.  Suah  to  meet  some  woman 
whose  child  me  hab  cured ;  ask  her  if  she  know  anyone  who 
hab  got  straw-hat  —  dere  suah  to  be  straw-hats  in  planters' 
houses  —  me  say  dat  a  mulatto  hab  lost  his,  and  not  able  to  go 
down  to  town  to  buy  one,  and  told  me  would  gib  me  dollar  if  I 
could  get  him  good  one.  Me  try  to  get  someting  for  sash  too." 

"That  would  be  almost  as  difficult  as  the  hat,  Dinah." 

Dinah  shook  her  head. 

"Plenty  ob  women  got  red  shawl,  sah;  most  all  got  red 
handkerchief.  Buy  one  shawl  or  six  handkerchief,  bring  dem 
home,  cut  dem  up,  and  sew  dem  together;  dat  make  bery 
good  sash.  You  no  trouble,  massa;  you  keep  quiet  here  all 
day  and  look  abler  madame.  I  'se  sure  to  be  back  before  it 
time  for  you  to  start." 


156  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

Dinah  indeed  returned  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking.  She 
carried  a  small  bundle  in  one  hand,  and  a  broad-brimmed 
straw-hat  in  the  other. 

"  Well  done,  Dinah ! "  Nat  exclaimed  as  he  returned  after 
sitting  for  a  couple  of  hours  on  the  rocks  near  the  fall,  and 
found  her  in  the  cave.  "How  did  you  get  the  hat?" 

"  Jess  as  I  said,  sah ;  me  found  one  woman  who  allus  bery 
grateful  to  me -for  sabing  her  chile.  I  tell  her  I  want  straw- 
hat.  She  said  she  could  get  me  one,  two,  or  tree  hats  in  de 
house  ob  mulatto  oberseer.  She  'teal  one  for  me.  Most  of 
de  men  down  in  de  plain,  so  she  take  basket  and  go  up  to  de 
house  garden  —  ebery  one  take  what  dey  want  now.  She  get 
some  green  'tuff,  as  if  for  her  dinner ;  den  she  go  round  by 
mulatto  man's  house,  she  look  in  at  window  and  see  hats ;  she 
take  one,  put  'im  in  basket  and  cober  'im  ober,  den  bring  um 
back  to  me.  She  had  red  shawl ;  she  gib  it  me,  but  I  make 
her  take  dollar  for  it.  Me  hide  de  hat  under  my  dress  till  me 
get  away  into  de  woods  again,  den  me  carry  um.  Now,  sah, 
put  um  on.  Dat  suit  you  bery  well,  sah;  you  pass  for  young 
mulatto  man  when  I  got  dis  shawl  cut  up  and  sewn  togeder. 
You  please  to  know  dat  madame  open  her  eyes  lillie  time  ago, 
and  know  mam'selle  and  Dinah.  Me  gib  her  drink  ob  pine- 
apple juice  wid  water  hi  which  me  boil  poppy  seeds ;  she 
drink  and  go  off  in  quiet  sleep ;  when  she  wake  to-morrow  I 
'spect  she  able  to  talk." 

"  I  don't  like  your  going,  Nat,"  Myra  said  when,  the  shawl 
having  been  converted  into  a  sash,  he  put  his  pistols  into  it. 
"  We  have  heard,  you  see,  that  the  Bayous  were  not  killed  in 
the  first  attack,  and  I  do  not  see  that  you  can  learn  more." 

"I  should  not  run  the  risk,  such  as  it  may  be,  merely  to 
ask  that  question.  But  I  think  that  their  coachman,  Toussaint, 
must  have  saved  them.  I  want  to  see  him;  possibly  he  may 
have  made  some  arrangements  for  getting  them  down  to  the 


AN  ATTACK   ON  THE   CAVE  157 

coast,  and  he  might  be  willing  to  allow  you  and  your  mother 
to  go  down  with  them.  Of  course  she  would  have  to  be  car- 
ried, but  that  might  not  add  much  to  the  difficulty." 

Receiving  general  instructions  from  Dinah  as  to  the  shortest 
route,  he  started,  without  giving  time  for  Myra  to  remonstrate 
further.  After  two  hours'  walking  he  approached  the  planta- 
tion of  Count  Noe.  The  house  was,  of  course,  gone.  Seeing 
a  negro  girl,  he  went  up  to  her. 

"  Which  is  the  house  of  Toussaint  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  pointed  to  a  path. 

"  It  am  de  first  house  you  come  to,"  she  said ;  "  he  used  to 
live  at  de  stables,  but  now  he  hab  de  house  ob  one  of  de  ober- 
seers  who  was  killed  because  he  did  not  join  us." 

On  reaching  the  house  indicated  he  looked  in  at  the  window, 
and  saw  the  person  he  was  looking  for  sitting  at  a  table  reading. 
He  was  now  a  man  of  forty-eight  years  old,  tall  in  stature,  with 
a  face  unusually  intelligent  for  one  of  his  race.  His  manners 
were  quiet  and  simple,  and  there  was  a  certain  dignity  in  his 
bearing  that  bespoke  a  feeling  that  he  was  superior  to  the 
race  to  which  he  belonged  and  the  position  he  occupied.  Nat 
went  round  to  the  door  and  knocked.  Toussaint  opened  it. 

"  Have  you  a  letter  for  me  ? "  he  asked  quietly,  supposing 
that  his  visitor  had  come  with  a  message  to  him  from  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  rebellion. 

Nat  entered  and  closed  the  door  behind  him. 

"Then  you  do  not  remember  me,  Toussaint?" 

The  negro  recognized  the  voice,  and  the  doubtful  accent  with 
which  his  visitor  spoke  French. 

"You  are  the  young  English  officer,"  he  exclaimed,  "though 
I  should  not  have  known  you  but  for  the  voice.  I  heard  that 
you  were  at  Monsieur  Duchesne's,  and  it  was  believed  that  you 
had  fled  to  the  woods  with  his  wife  and  daughter.  I  ain  glad 
that  they  escaped." 


158  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  I  have  come  from  them,  Toussaint  —  at  least  from  the 
daughter,  for  the  mother  has  had  an  attack  of  fever.  She 
heard  that  the  family  here  had  also  escaped,  and  she  said  at 
once  that  she  felt  sure  you  had  aided  them." 

"  I  did  so,"  the  negro  said  quietly ;  "  they  were  the  family 
I  served,  and  it  was  my  duty  to  save  them ;  moreover,  they 
had  always  been  kind  to  me.  They  are  safe  —  I  saw  them  down 
to  the  coast  last  night.  I  risked  my  life,  for  although  the 
slaves  round  here  respect  me  and  look  upon  me  as  their  leader, 
even  that  would  not  have  saved  me  had  they  suspected  that  I 
had  saved  white  people  from  death." 

"  But  you  are  not  with  them,  Toussaint,  surely  ?  " 

The  negro  drew  himself  up. 

"  I  am  with  my  countrymen,"  he  said ;  "  I  have  always  felt 
their  position  greatly.  Why  should  we  be  treated  as  cattle 
because  we  differ  in  colour  from  others  ?  I  did  my  duty  to 
my  employers,  and  now  that  that  is  done  I  am  free,  and  to- 
morrow I  shall  join  the  bands  under  Francois  and  Biassou.  I 
regret  most  deeply  that  my  people  should  have  disgraced  their 
cause  by  murders.  Of  the  two  thousand  whites  who  have  fallen 
fully  one  half  are  women  and  children,  therefore  there  could 
have  been  but  one  thousand  men  who,  if  they  had  been  allowed 
to  go  free  down  to  the  town,  could  have  fought  against  us ;  and 
what  are  a  thousand  men,  when  we  are  half  a  million  ?  It  has 
been  a  mistake  that  may  well  ruin  our  cause  ;  among  the  whites 
everywhere  it  will  confirm  their  opinion  of  our  race  that  we 
are  but  savages,  brutal  and  bloodthirsty,  when  we  have  the 
opportunity.  In  France  it  will  excite  those  against  us  who 
were  before  our  friends,  and  French  troops  will  pour  into 
the  islands,  whereas,  had  the  revolution  been  a  peaceful  one, 
it  would  have  been  approved  by  the  friends  of  liberty  there. 
It  is  terrible,  nevertheless  it  makes  it  all  the  more  necessary 
that  those  who  have  some  influence  should  use  it  for  good. 


AN  ATTACK   ON   THE   CAVE  159 

Now  that  the  first  fury  has  passed,  better  thoughts  may  pre- 
vail, and  we  may  conduct  the  war  without  such  horrors ;  but 
even  of  that  I  have  no  great  hope.  We  may  be  sure  that  the 
whites  will  take  a  terrible  vengeance,  the  blacks  will  retaliate  ; 
it  will  be  blood  for  blood  on  both  sides.  However,  in  a  case 
like  this  the  lives  of  individuals  are  as  nothing,  the  cause  is 
everything.  I  have  myself  no  animosity  against  the  whites, 
but  many  of  my  countrymen  have  just  cause  for  hatred  against 
them,  and  were  any  to  try  to  interfere  to  prevent  them  from 
taking  the  vengeance  they  consider  their  right,  it  would  cause 
dissension  and  so  prejudice  our  chances  of  success.  You  can 
understand,  then,  that  I  shall  hold  myself  aloof  altogether  from 
any  interference.  I  am  sorry  for  the  ladies,  but  now  that  I 
have  done  my  duty  to  my  late  employers,  I  have  a  paramount 
duty  to  discharge  to  my  countrymen,  and  decline  to  interfere 
in  any  way." 

"  Then  all  I  can  say  is,"  Nat  said  sternly,  "  that  I  trust  that 
some  day,  when  you  are  in  the  power  of  your  enemies,  there 
•will  be  none  to  give  you  the  aid  you  now  deny  to  women  in 
distress." 

So  saying,  he  turned  and  went  out  through  the  door,  and 
before  morning  broke  arrived  again  at  the  cave.  Not  wishing 
to  disturb  the  others,  he  lay  down  outside  until  the  sun  was  up, 
then  he  went  along  the  stream  for  some  distance  and  bathed. 
As  he  returned,  Myra  was  standing  on  the  ledge  outside  the 
entrance. 

"  Welcome  back  !  "  she  called  out.  "  What  news  have  you 
brought?" 

"  Good  news  as  far  as  your  friends  are  concerned.  Toussaint 
has  got  them  down  to  the  coast,  and  sent  them  to  Cape  Fran- 
cois in  a  boat." 

"That  is  good  news  indeed,"  she  cried.  "Oh,  I  am  glad! 
Now,  what  is  the  bad  news  ?  " 


160  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  The  only  bad  news  is  that  the  negro  declined  to  help  you 
in  the  same  way.  He  is  starting  this  morning  to  join  some 
bands  of  slaves  up  in  the  hills." 

"  That  is  hardly  bad  news,"  she  said,  "  for  I  never  supposed 
that  he  would  help  us.  There  was  no  reason  why  he  should 
run  any  risks  for  our  sake." 

"  I  hoped  that  he  would  have  done  so,  Myra ;  but  at  the 
same  time,  as  he  evidently  regards  the  success  of  the  blacks  as 
certain,  and  expects  to  become  one  of  their  leaders,  one  can 
understand  that  he  does  not  care  to  run  any  risk  of  compro- 
mising himself." 

"  Mamma  is  better  this  morning,"  Myra  said ;  "  she  has  asked 
after  you,  and  remembers  what  happened  before  her  fever 
began." 

"  That  is  good  indeed.  As  soon  as  she  gets  strong  enough 
to  travel  we  will  begin  to  think  how  we  can  best  make  our  way 
down  to  the  town." 

Four  days  later,  Dinah,  on  her  return  from  a  visit  to  the 
plantations,  said  that  there  had  just  been  some  fighting  be- 
tween the  whites  coming  out  from  Cape  Francois  and  the 
slaves.  They  said  that  a  ship  had  arrived  with  some  French 
troops,  and  that  all  the  white  men  in  the  town  were  coming 
out,  and  that  they  were  killing  every  negro  they  found.  The 
women  and  children  from  the  plantations  in  the  plains  were  all 
flying  into  the  woods. 

"  Then  it  strikes  me,  Dinah,  that  our  position  here  is  a  very 
dangerous  one.  You  may  be  sure  that  the  slaves  will  not  be 
able  to  stand  against  the  whites  and  the  soldiers,  and  that 
numbers  of  them  will  go  into  hiding,  and  it  is  very  likely  that 
some  who  know  the  secret  of  this  place  will  come  here. " 

"  Yes,  sah,  I  'se  not  thought  ob  dat ;  but,  sure  enough,  it  am 
bery  likely  dat  some  ob  dem  may  do  so.  What  you  link 
had  best  be  done  ?  If  de  slabes  all  running  into  de  wood  de 


AN   ATTACK   ON  THE   CAVE  161 

danger  of  passing  troo  would  be  much  greater  dan  it  hab  been. 
And  eben  if  madame  could  walk,  it  would  be  bery  great  risk  to 
go  down  — great  risk  to  'top  here  too.  What  you  tink?" 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  think,  Dinah  ;  there  is  one  thing,  it  is 
not  likely  that  many  of  them  would  come  here." 

"  No,  sah ;  dose  who  know  about  de  cave  would  know  dat 
not  more  dan  eight  or  ten  could  hide  here  —  no  use  to  bring  a 
lot  ob  people  wid  dem." 

"  That  is  what  I  think,  Dinah ;  they  will  keep  the  secret  to 
themselves.  Now  against  eight  or  ten  of  them,  I  am  sure  that  I 
could  hold  this  place,  but  some  of  them,  when  they  found  they 
could  not  get  in,  would  go  back  again  and  might  lead  a  strong 
party  here,  or  might  keep  watch  higher  up,  and  starve  us  out. 
And  even  if  the  whites  beat  them  out  of  all  the  plantations, 
they  would  not  know  where  to  look  for  us,  and  would  have  too 
much  on  their  hands  to  scatter  all  over  the  hills.  If  we  are  to 
join  them  it  must  be  by  going  down." 

"  Dinah  might  go  and  tell  dem,  sah." 

Nat  shook  his  head. 

"I  am  afraid,  Dinah,  that  their  passions  will  be  so  much 
aroused  at  the  wholesale  murder  of  the  whites  that  they  will 
shoot  every  black  they  come  across,  man  or  woman,  and  you 
would  be  shot  long  before  you  could  get  close  enough  to  ex- 
plain why  you  had  come.  No,  I  think  the  only  thing  to  be 
done,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  is  that  you  should  go  down  from  time 
to  time  to  let  us  know  how  things  are  going.  I  do  not  think 
that  the  whites  are  likely  to  get  very  far  along  the  road.  You 
may  be  sure  that  when  the  troops  started  from  the  town  news 
was  sent  at  once  to  the  leaders,  and  it  is  likely  that  they  will 
move  a  great  number  of  men  down  to  oppose  them,  and  will 
likely  enough  drive  them  back.  However,  the  great  thing  for 
us  is  to  know  where  they  are  and  what  they  are  doing.  It  is 
likely  that  now  the  whites  have  advanced  there  will  no  longer 


162  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

be  any  watch  kept  to  prevent  people,  in  hiding  like  ourselves, 
from  going  down  to  the  town ;  if  you  find  out  that  that  is  so, 
we  will  put  madame  on  her  barrow  again,  and  carry  her  down. 
Of  course  we  should  have  to  chance  being  met  when  going 
through  the  forest,  but  we  must  risk  that." 

"  Yes,  I  tink  dat  de  only  plan,  sah." 

Accordingly,  Dinah  started  again  the  next  morning.  Nat 
felt  very  anxious,  and  took  up  his  place  near  the  entrance  to 
the  cave.  Myra  was  busy  seeing  to  the  cooking  and  in  attend- 
ing upon  her  mother.  About  four  o'clock  he  thought  he  heard 
voices,  and,  crawling  cautiously  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  he 
looked  out  through  the  bushes.  Eight  men  were  coming  along ; 
six  of  them  were  negroes,  and  the  other  two  were  the  mulatto 
overseers  whose  conversation  he  had  overheard.  He  called 
softly  to  Myra : 

"  Don't  be  alarmed,  Myra,  we  are  going  to  have  a  fight,  but 
I  have  no  fear  whatever  of  their  taking  us.  Only  one  can 
attack  at  once,  and  he  can  only  come  slowly.  There  are  eight 
of  them ;  you  may  as  well  bring  me  the  two  other  pistols.  I 
would  not  take  them  if  I  thought  there  was  the  smallest  chance 
of  these  fellows  getting  up  here.  Go  and  tell  your  mother  not 
to  be  frightened,  and  then  do  you  come  and  sit  down  behind 
me.  I  will  hand  the  pistols  to  you  to  load.  There  are  only 
eight  of  these  fellows,  and  if  there  were  eighty,  we  could  hold 
the  cave  ;  even  if  they  got  up  to  the  platform  they  could  only 
enter,  stooping,  one  at  a  time.  Go  at  once  to  your  mother, 
they  will  be  here  directly." 

"How  much  farther  is  this  place?"  the  mulatto  Christophe 
asked. 

"  Right  dar  behind  dat  bush,"  the  negro  said ;  "  you  go  up 
by  dem  steps." 

"It  is  a  splendid  hiding-place,  Paul." 

"  Yes.     No  one  who  did  not  know  of  it  would  have  a  chance 


AN   ATTACK   ON   THE   CAVE  163 

of  finding  it.  There  is  someone  there  now ;  don't  you  see  a 
light  smoke  rising  behind  the  bush  ?  " 

"  So  there  is  !  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  woman 
Duchesne  and  her  daughter  are  there.  It  is  certain  that  some- 
one must  have  helped  them  off,  or  we  should  have  found  them 
long  ago." 

"  Well,  it  will  be  a  rare  piece  of  luck  if  they  are  there." 

The  negroes  had  already  noticed  the  smoke,  and  were  talking 
excitedly  together.  It  had  not  occurred  to  them  that  any 
fugitives  could  have  discovered  the  place,  and  they  were  only 
concerned  at  the  thought  that  the  cave  might  be  already  fully 
occupied. 

"  Hullo,  dar !  "  one  of  them  shouted.  "  How  many  ob  you 
up  dar?" 

No  answer  was  returned.  He  shouted  again,  but  there  was 
still  silence. 

"  I  s'pect  dar  only  one  man,"  he  said  to  his  comrades. 
"  Most  likely  him  gone  out  to  look  for  food.  Bery  foolish  leab 
fire  burning ; "  and  he  at  once  proceeded  to  climb  the  steps, 
followed  by  two  others. 

Nat  grasped  the  handle  of  his  pistol.  He  determined  that 
in  the  first  place  he  would  make  sure  of  the  two  mulattoes. 
They  were  by  far  the  most  dangerous  of  his  foes,  and  if  they 
escaped  they  would,  he  had  no  doubt,  keep  watch  higher  up, 
capture  Dinah  on  her  return,  and  cut  off  all  retreat  from  the 
cave.  It  was  time  to  act  at  once,  and,  taking  a  steady  aim  at 
Paul,  he  fired. 

With  a  shriek  the  mulatto  fell  backwards.  Before  the 
others  could  recover  from  their  surprise  "Nat  fired  again,  and 
Christophe  fell  forward  on  his  face  in  the  water.  He  passed 
the  pistol  back  to  Myra,  and  grasped  another.  He  had  ex- 
pected that  the  negroes  would  at  once  fly,  and  two  of  them 
had  turned  to  do  so,  when  the  highest  climber  shouted  down : 


164  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Come  on,  all  obyou  !  what  you  want  run  away  for?  Perhaps 
only  one  man  here,  he  want  to  keep  de  cabe  all  to  himself; 
we  soon  settle  with  him.  Dis  cabe  de  only  safe  place." 

Nat  could  easily  have  shot  the  man,  but  he  determined  to 
direct  his  fire  against  those  below.  If  he  shot  those  climbing 
the  others  would  escape,  and  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance 
that  no  one  should  do  so.  The  negroes  had  snatched  the  pistols 
from  the  belts  of  the  fallen  mulattoes,  and  several  shots  were 
fired  at  the  bush.  Nat  drew  back  for  a  moment  as  the  negroes 
raised  their  arms,  and  then  discharged  the  two  barrels  of  his 
pistol  with  as  deadly  an  effect  as  before,  and  seized  the  third 
weapon.  The  remaining  negro  below  dropped  behind  a  fallen 
rock.  At  the  same  moment  the  man  who  was  evidently  the 
leader  of  them  sprang  on  to  the  ledge.  Nat's  pistol  was  ready, 
and  as  the  negro  bounded  forward  he  fired.  The  ball  struck 
him  in  the  chest,  and  he  fell  like  a  log  over  the  precipice. 

In  his  fall  he  struck  one  of  his  comrades,  and  carried  him 
down  on  to  the  rocks  below.  The  other  seemed  paralysed  with 
fear,  and  uttered  a  shriek  for  mercy  as  Nat,  who  from  his  posi- 
tion could  not  see  him,  sprang  to  his  feet ;  but  the  tales  that 
he  had  heard  from  Dinah  of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  had 
steeled  his  heart  to  all  thoughts  of  mercy,  and  taking  a  deliberate 
aim  Nat  shot  him  through  the  head.  He  had  still  a  pistol  left 
charged.  Myra  had  not  yet  loaded  the  first  he  had  handed  to 
her,  for  it  was  but  some  twenty  seconds  from  the  time  that  the 
first  shot  had  been  fired.  Nat  caught  up  the  sword,  and  at 
once  made  his  way  down  the  steps.  He  ran  towards  the  rock 
behind  which  the  last  of  the  negroes  had  thrown  himself.  As 
he  did  so  the  man  leapt  to  his  feet,  and  the  two  pistols  cracked 
at  the  same  moment.  Nat  felt  a  sharp  pain  in  his  side.  His 
own  shot  had  missed,  and  a  moment  later  the  negro  was  rush- 
ing at  him  with  uplifted  knife. 

Jfot  the  moment  Nat  forgot  that  he  had  another  shot  left, 


"HE    FELL    LIKE    A   LOG   OVER    THE    PRECIPICE. 


AN   ATTACK    ON    THE    CAVE  165 

and,  dropping  the  pistol,  shifted  his  sword  to  the  right  hand, 
and  before  the  negro's  knife  could  fall  he  ran  him  through  the 
body.  There  was  now  but  one  foe  left.  He  lay  stunned  below 
his  fallen  comrade,  and  Nat  saw  from  the  manner  in  which  one 
of  his  legs  was  doubled  under  him  that  it  was  broken.  He  could 
do  no  harm,  but  he  would  assuredly  die  if  left  there  alone. 
Nat  pressed  his  lips  together,  and  having  picked  up  his  pistol, 
he  put  it  close  to  the  man's  head  and  fired.  Looking  up,  he 
saw  Myra  run  out  with  a  pistol  in  her  hand. 

"  It  is  all  right,  Myra.  Thank  God  none  of  them  have  got 
away." 

"  Are  you  hurt  ?  "  she  asked,  breathlessly. 

"  I  will  come  up,"  he  said ;  "  I  am  hit  in  the  side,  but  I  don't 
think  that  it  is  at  all  serious." 

He  found,  however,  as  he  ascended  the  steps,  that  it  gave 
him  acute  pain  every  time  he  moved.  The  girl  was  white  and 
trembling  when  he  joined  her. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  Myra,"  he  said,  "  I  am  sure  that  it  is 
nothing  serious.  It  struck  a  rib  and  glanced  off,  I  think,  and 
at  the  worst  it  has  only  broken  the  bone.  You  go  in  and  attend 
to  your  mother." 

"  I  shall  not  do  anything  of  the  sort,"  she  said.  "  You  come 
in,  and  I  will  look  at  it;  it  must  want  bandaging,  any- 
how." 

Nat  felt  that  this  was  true,  and,  following  her  into  the  cave, 
he  let  her  take  off  his  jacket.  The  wound  was  a  few  inches 
below  the  arm. 

"It  is  lucky  that  it  was  not  a  little  more  to  the  right,"  he 
said  j  "  it  would  have  done  for  me.  Don't  look  so  white,  Myra, 
a  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile.  It  is  as  I  thought,  is  k  not  ?  *—  just 
a  glancing  wound." 

"  Yes,"  the  girl  said. 

He  felt  along  the  rib. 


166  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  broken  ;  I  can 
feel  the  ends  grate,  and  it  hurts  me  every  time  I  breathe.  This 
is  where  it  is,  just  where  the  cut  begins;  the  wound  itself  is 
nothing." 

"  What  shall  I  do?"  she  asked  quietly. 

"  Tear  a  strip  or  two  off  the  bottom  of  your  petticoat,  then 
sew  the  ends  together  to  make  a  long  bandage,  and  roll  a 
little  piece,  so  as  to  make  a  wad  about  an  inch  wide.  Is  the 
wound  bleeding  ?  " 

"  Yes,  very  much." 

"  Fold  a  piece  four  or  five  thick,  and  lay  over  that  the  other 
wad  so  as  to  go  up  and  down  across  the  rib.  Now,  if  you 
will  give  me  a  little  warm  water  and  a  piece  of  rag,  I  will 
bathe  the  wound  while  you  are  making  the  bandage." 

"  I  will  bathe  it,"  the  girl  said.  "  I  am  sure  it  would  hurt 
you  to  get  your  hand  round." 

In  ten  minutes  the  operation  was  completed. 

"  I  am  so  sorry  that  I  cannot  help,"  Madame  Duchesne 
murmured,  as  Myra  sat  down  to  sew  the  strips  together. 

"  There  is  nothing  that  you  could  do,  thank  you,"  Nat  said 
cheerfully.  "Myra  is  getting  on  capitally.  I  shall  soon  be 
all  right  again." 

When  everything  was  done,  he  said,  "You  are  a  trump, 
Myra,  you  have  done  it  first-rate."  Then  the  girl,  who  had 
gone  on  as  quietly  as  if  she  had  been  accustomed  to  such  work 
all  her  life,  broke  down,  and,  bursting  into  a  fit  of  crying, 
threw  herself  down  by  the  side  of  her  mother.  Nat  would 
have  attempted  to  soothe  her,  but  her  mother  said,  "  Leave  her 
to  me,  she  will  be  all  the  better  for  a  good  cry."  Nat  went 
down  again  to  the  stream,  picked  up  the  four  pistols  the 
Creoles  had  carried  and  unwound  their  sashes,  thinking  that 
these  would  be  better  than  the  make-shift  that  he  wore.  As 
he  did  so  two  small  bags  dropped  out.  He  opened  them ;  both 


AN   ATTACK   ON  THE   CAVE  167 

contained  jewels,  some  of  which  he  had  seen  Madame 
Duchesne  wearing. 

"  That  is  a  bit  of  luck,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  No  doubt 
directly  they -entered  the  house  these  scoundrels  made  one  of 
the  women  show  them  where  madame's  jewel-case  was,  and 
divided  the  contents  between  them.  When  Dinah  comes  we 
must  get  these  bodies  down  the  stream.  I  could  do  it  my- 
self were  it  not  for  this  rib,  but  it  would  not  be  safe  to  try 
experiments.  What  a  plucky  girl  Myra  is  !  Most  girls  would 
have  been  ready  to  faint  at  the  sight  of  blood.  I  will  wait  a 
few  minutes  before  I  go  up  so  as  to  give  her  time  to  pull  her- 
self together." 

In  ten  minutes  he  went  up  again.  "  Madame,"  he  said,  "  I 
have  something  that  I  am  sure  you  will  be  very  glad  to  get 
back  again.  I  took  off  the  sashes  of  those  rascally  mulattoes, 
and  these  two  bags  fell  out  of  them.  What  do  you  think  they 
contain  ?  Some  of  your  jewels." 

Madame  Duchesne  and  Myra  both  uttered  exclamations  of 
pleasure.  "They  are  family  jewels,"  Myra  said,  "and  my 
father  and  mother  both  prize  them  very  much.  How  strange 
they  should  have  been  on  these  men  ! " 

"  The  two  mulattoes  were  two  of  your  overseers,  and  no 
doubt  ran  straight  up  and  seized  them  directly  they  entered  the 
house." 

She  saw  that  her  mother  wished  to  speak,  and  leaned  down 
over  her,  for  Madame  Duchesne  could  not  as  yet  raise  her 
voice  above  a  whisper. 

"  Turn  them  out,"  she  said,  "  and  see  how  many  are  missing." 

Although  Nat  had  seen  Madame  Duchesne  in  full  evening 
dress  two  or  three  times  when  parties  of  friends  had  assembled 
at  the  house,  and  had  noticed  the  beauty  of  her  jewels,  he  was 
surprised  at  the  number  of  bracelets,  necklaces,  brooches,  and 
rings  that  poured  out  from  the  bags.  Some  of  the  larger 


168  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

articles,  which  he  supposed  were  ornaments  for  the  hair,  were 
bent  and  crumpled  up  so  as  to  take  up  as  little  space  as  pos- 
sible. Myra  held  them  up  one  by  one  before  her  mother's  eyes. 

"They  are  all  there,  every  one  of  them,"  the  latter  whis- 
pered. "Your  father  will  be  pleased." 

"The  greater  part  of  these,"  Myra  said  to  Nat,  "were 
brought  over  when  the  Baron  Duchesne,  our  ancestor,  came 
over  here  first,  but  a  great  many  have  been  bought  since.  I 
have  heard  mamma  say  that  each  successor  of  the  name  and 
estate  has  made  it  a  point  of  honour  to  add  to  the  collection, 
of  which  they  were  very  proud,  as  it  was  certainly  the  finest 
in  the  island ;  and  besides,  it  was  thought  that  if  at  any  time 
Hayti  should  be  captured,  either  by  the  Spanish  or  your 
people,  or  if  there  should  be  trouble  with  the  blacks,  it  would 
be  a  great  thing  to  have  valuables  that  could  be  so  easily  hidden 
or  carried  away." 

"Then  they  have  thought  all  along  that  there  might  be  a 
rising  here  some  day  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  when  he  was  a 
boy  he  has  heard  his  grandfather  talk  the  matter  over  with 
others,  and  they  thought  that  the  number  of  slaves  in  the  island 
was  so  great  that  possibly  there  might  some  day  be  a  revolt. 
They  all  agreed  that  it  would  be  put  down,  but  they  believed 
that  the  negroes  might  do  terrible  damage  before  enough  troops 
could  be  brought  from  France  to  suppress  it." 

"They  thought  rightly,"  Nat  said,  "though  it  has  been  a 
long  time  coming ;  and  the  worst  of  it  is  that  even  if  it  is  put 
down  it  may  break  out  again  at  any  time.  It  is  hardly  reason- 
able that,  when  they  are  at  least  ten  to  one  against  the 
whites  and  mulattoes  together,  men  should  submit  to  be  kept 
in  slavery." 

"  But  they  were  very  well  off,"  Myra  said.  °  I  am  sure  they 
were  much  better  off  than  the  poorer  whites." 


AN   ATTACK   ON  THE   CAVE  169 

"  From  what  I  have  seen  of  them  I  think  they  were,"  Nat 
replied,  "  but  you  see  people  do  not  know  when  they  are  well 
off.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  the  last  white  man  left  the  island, 
and  slavery  were  abolished  for  ever,  the  negroes  would  be  very 
much  worse  off  than  they  were  before,  and  I  should  think  they 
would  most  likely  go  back  to  the  same  idle,  savage  sort  of  life 
that  they  live  in  Africa.  Still,  of  course,  at  present  they  have 
no  idea  of  that.  They  think  they  will  be  no  longer  obliged  to 
work,  and  suppose  that  somehow  they  will  be  fed  and  clothed 
and  have  everything  they  want  without  any  trouble  to  them- 
selves. You  see  it  is  just  the  same  thing  that  is  going  on  in 
France." 

"  Well,  now,  what  are  you  going  to  do  next,  Nat  ?  " 

"  I  shall  load  the  pistols.  I  have  got  four  more  now.  Then 
I  shall  take  my  place  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave  again.  I  hope 
that  when  Dinah  comes  she  will  bring  us  news  that  will  enable 
us  to  move  away.  The  fact  that  this  party  was  coming  here 
for  refuge  shows  that  the  blacks  are  growing  alarmed,  and  per- 
haps have  already  suffered  a  defeat,  in  which  case  the  way  will 
be  clear  for  us.  If  not,  I  must  get  her  to  help  me  clear  the 
place  down  below,  it  will  not  be  difficult.  What  have  you  got 
on  the  fire?" 

"  There  is  a  fowl  that  I  have  been  stewing  down  to  make  the 
broth  for  mother.  I  have  another  cut  up  ready  for  grilling." 

Two  hours  later  Nat,  to  his  surprise,  saw  Dinah  hurrying 
down  the  ravine,  for  he  had  not  expected  her  until  evening. 
He  stood  up  at  once.  She  paused  when  she  caught  sight  of 
the  bodies  lying  below  the  cave. 

"  It  is  all  right,  Dinah,"  he  shouted.  "  We  have  had  a  bit 
of  a  fight,  but  it  only  lasted  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  except 
that  I  got  a  graze  from  a  pistol-ball,  we  are  unhurt." 

"  De  Lord  be  blest,  sah  !  "  she  said  as  she  came  up.  "  Eight 
ob  dem,  and  you  kill  dem  all,  sah  ? " 


170  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  Yes ;  one  could  hardly  miss  them  at  that  distance.  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  none  of  them  got  away.  You  are  back  earlier 
than  I  expected." 

"  Yes,  sah ;  me  found  out  all  de  news  in  good  time,  and  den, 
as  eberyone  say  hurricane  come  on,  I  hurry  all  de  way  to  get 
here  before  he  come." 

"Well,  come  up,  Dinah.  Madame  is  going  on  very  well. 
You  know  those  two  mulattoes?" 

"  Me  know  dem,  sah ;  dey  bery  bad  men,  dey  lead  de  black 
fellows  to  de  attack." 

"  Well,  it  is  well  that  they  came  up  here,  for  they  had,  hid- 
den in  their  sashes,  all  madame's  jewels." 

"  Dat  am  good  news,  sah,"  the  old  woman  said  as  she  joined 
him,  "  dat  powerful  good  news.  Madame  did  n't  say  anyting 
about  jewels,  but  Dinah  tought  of  dem,  and  what  a  terrible  ting 
it  would  be  if  she  had  lost  dem  !  Dat  good  affair." 

"  So  you  think  that  we  are  going  to  have  a  storm,  Dinah  ?  " 

"  Sartin  suah,  sah ;  bery  hot  las'  night,  bery  hot  dis  morning, 
and  jest  as  me  got  to  top  of  hill  me  saw  de  clouds  coming  up 
bery  fast." 

"  I  did  n't  notice  the  heat  particularly.  Of  course  it  is  very 
shady  in  this  deep  gorge,  and  one  does  not  see  much  of  the 
sky." 

"Dis  bery  good  place,  sah  —  better  dan  house,  much  better 
dan  forest  Me  was  despate  frighted  dat  storm  would  come 
before  me  got  here." 

"I  was  wanting  you  to  help  me  put  the  bodies  into  the 
stream,  Dinah." 

"No  need  for  dat,  sah;  when  storm  come  wash  dem  all 
down  —  no  fear  ob  dat" 

She  went  into  the  cave,  and  Nat  followed  her. 

"  Me  hab  good  news  for  you,  ma'am.  De  whites  come  out 
strong  from  de  town  wid  regiment  of  troops  and  de  sailors 


AN  ATTACK   ON  THE   CAVE  171 

from  English  ship;  de  blacks  hab  a  fight  down  in  de  plain, 
but  dey  beat  dem  easy.  Den  yesterday  de  bands  of  Francois 
come  down  from  de  mountains,  get  to  our  plantation  in  de 
evening ;  dey  bery  strong,  dey  say  dar  am  ten  thousand  ob  dem. 
Dey  s'pect  de  whites  to  come  and  attack  to-morrow.  To-day 
dey  clearing  out  all  de  plantations  on  de  plain.  De  black  fel- 
lows say  dey  cut  dem  all  to  pieces." 

"  There  is  no  fear  of  that,"  Nat  broke  in.  "  So  you  think 
that  they  will  fight  in  the  morning?" 

"  No,  sah,  me  no  tink  dat ;  me  suah  dat  as  soon  as  de  whites 
see  de  hurricane  coming  dey  march  back  fast  to  de  town  ;  no 
can  stand  hurricane  widout  shelter.  You  had  better  light  de 
lantern,  it  am  getting  as  dark  as  night." 

Nat  went  to  the  entrance.  Looking  up,  he  saw  a  canopy  of 
black  cloud  passing  overhead  with  extraordinary  rapidity. 
Almost  instantaneously  there  came  a  flash  of  lightning,  nearly 
blinding  him,  accompanied  by  a  tremendous  clap  of  thunder. 
He  turned  hastily  back  into  the  cave. 

"  It  is  lucky  that  you  arrived  in  time,  Dinah  ;  if  you  had  been 
ten  minutes  longer  you  would  have  been  caught." 

He  stopped  speaking,  for  his  voice  was  drowned  in  a  tre- 
mendous roar.  He  was  about  to  go  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave 
again,  but  Dinah  caught  hold  of  his  jacket. 

"No,  sah,  you  mustn't  go;  if  you  show  your  head  out 
beyond  de  cabe,  de  wind  catch  you  and  whirl  you  away  like 
leaf,  nobody  neber  see  you  no  more.  We  safe  and  comfor'ble 
in  here.  We  just  got  to  wait  till  it  all  over.  Dat  wind  strong 
enough  to  trow  down  de  strongest  trees,  blow  down  all  de 
huts,  take  de  roof  off  de  strongest  house.  We  not  often  hab 
hurricanes  in  dis  island,  but  when  dey  come,  dey  come  bery 
bad.  Dose  ten  tousand  black  fellows  down  at  de  plantation 
dey  hab  a  bery  bad  time  ob  it  to-night,  dey  wish  demselves 
dead  afore  morning." 


1?2  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  It  is  very  bad  for  the  women  and  children  too,  Dinah." 

"  Yes,  sah,  me  hab  not  forgotten  dat ;  but  most  ob  dem  will 
hab  gone,  dey  run  away  when  dey  hear  dat  de  whites  coming 
out  of  town.  Dey  know  bery  well  dat  de  whites  hab  good  cause 
to  be  bery  angry,  and  dat  dey  shoot  eberyone  dey  catch." 

"  But  they  will  be  just  as  badly  off  in  the  woods  as  they 
would  be  in  their  huts,  Dinah.  Have  your  daughter  and  her 
children  got  away  ?  " 

"  No,  sah,  dey  wur  going  jest  as  I  started,  but  I  told  dem 
dat  hurricane  coming,  and  dat  dey  better  stay  in  de  clearing ; 
and  dey  agreed  to  hide  up  in  de  little  stone  hut  at  end  of 
garden  where  dey  keep  de  tools  and  oder  tings.  De  roof  blow 
off,  no  doubt,  but  de  walls  am  low  and  strong.  Dey  hab  bad 
time  dere,  but  dey  safe." 

With  Dinah's  assistance,  Nat  fixed  a  blanket  at  the  point 
where  the  narrow  entrance  widened  out,  to  keep  out  the  swirls 
of  wind  which  from  time  to  time  rushed  in,  propping  it  in  its 
place  by  the  hand-barrow  on  which  Madame  Duchesne  had 
been  brought  up.  Myra  had  finished  cooking  the  fowls  just  as 
her  nurse  arrived,  and  they  sat  down  to  their  meal  heedless  of 
the  terrific  tempest  that  was  raging  outside. 


CHAPTER   X 

AFLOAT  AGAIN 

" r  I AHERE  will  be  no  occasion  to  keep  watch  to-night, 

1      Dinah." 

"  Not  in  de  least,  sah ;  de  water  six  feet  deep,  no  one  could 
get  in." 

As  talking  was  out  of  the  question,  the  party  lay  down  to 
sleep  soon  after  they  had  finished  their  meal.  It  was  some 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  173 

time,  however,  before  Nat  closed  his  eyes.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  as  soon  as  the  storm  was  over,  and  the  water  low  enough  for 
them  to  pass  up  the  ravine,  no  time  should  be  lost  in  attempt- 
ing to  make  their  way  down  into  the  town.  The  troops 
would  no  doubt  set  out  again  as  soon  as  possible,  and  a  battle 
might  be  fought  before  nightfall.  That  the  negroes  would  be 
beaten  he  had  no  doubt,  and  in  that  case  other  parties  of 
fugitives  might  make  for  the  cave.  It  was  likely  that,  until  the 
battle  was  fought,  there  would  be  but  few  negroes  in  the  forest ; 
those  who  had  remained  there  during  the  storm  would  go  down 
into  the  full  glare  of  the  sun  to  dry  and  warm  themselves. 

Doubtless,  too,  Fran£ois,  the  negro  leader,  would  have  sent 
messengers  off  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  ordering  all  able-bodied 
men  in  the  plantations  for  miles  round  to  come  in  to  take  part 
in  the  battle,  and  their  chances  of  meeting  with  any  foes  as  they 
descended  to  the  plain  would  be  slight.  It  would  undoubtedly 
be  a  serious  matter  to  carry  Madame  Duchesne  for  so  long  a 
distance ;  for  they  had  ever  since  leaving  the  plantation  been 
going  farther  away  from  the  town,  and  he  calculated  that  it 
must  be  at  least  twenty-five  miles  distant.  He  did  not  think 
that  it  would  be  possible  to  do  the  journey  in  a  day ;  but  once 
down  on  the  plains  they  might  find  some  building  intact,  in 
which  they  could  obtain  shelter  for  the  night.  At  last  he  fell 
off  to  sleep. 

When  he  awoke  the  din  outside  had  ceased,  and  the  silence 
seemed  almost  oppressive.  He  got  up,  pushed  aside  the 
blanket,  and  looked  out.  The  stars  were  shining,  and  the 
wind  had  entirely  lulled.  The  bottom  of  the  ravine  was 
still  full  of  water,  but  he  felt  sure  that  this  would  speedily 
drop ;  for  the  depression  above  the  gorge  was  not  an  extensive 
one,  and  the  water  that  fell  there  would  speedily  find  its  way 
down.  He  lit  a  fresh  candle  and  placed  it  in  the  lantern,  as 
the  last,  which  had  been  renewed  by  Dinah  early  in  the  night, 


174  A  feOVlNG  COMMISSION 

was  burning  low.  He  pulled  down  the  blanket,  for  although 
the  air  was  fresh  and  cool  at  the  entrance,  the  cave  was  oppres- 
sively warm.  It  was  two  hours  before  day  began  to  break ;  by 
this  time  the  torrent  had  subsided  and  the  stream  ran  in  its 
former  course,  and  it  was  clear  that  in  another  hour  it  would 
be  possible  to  make  their  way  along  by  the  side.  As  he  was 
turning  to  go  in,  Dinah  joined  him. 

"  I  tink,  Marse  Glober,  de  sooner  we  go  de  better." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  have  been  thinking.  There  are  not 
likely  to  be  many  of  the  slaves  about  in  the  wood  to-day ;  you 
see  a  number  of  trees  have  blown  down  from  above,  and  just 
below,  the  ravine  is  almost  choked  with  them." 

"No,  sah,  many  will  be  killed  in  the  forest,  and  de  rest 
frighted  'most  out  of  der  lives.  If  de  whites  come  out  and 
fight  to-day,  and  de  black  fellows  are  beaten,  all  dose  who 
know  of  dis  place  suah  to  come  to  hide  here." 

"That  was  just  my  idea." 

"  How  your  side,  sah  ?  " 

"  It  seems  rather  stiff  and  sore,  Dinah.  However,  that  can't 
be  helped.  That  sash  you  made  me  will  come  in  very  handy 
for  carrying  madame,  and  we  sha'n't  have  the  weight  of  the 
other  things  we  brought  up.  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  impossible 
to  do  the  journey  in  one  day,  but  I  dare  say  we  shall  light 
upon  a  shelter  down  on  the  plains." 

"  Yes,  sah.  Me  put  de  pot  on  de  fire  at  once,  and  as  soon 
as  we  hab  breakfast  we  make  a  start ;  but  before  we  go  me  must 
stain  you  all  again  —  got  glenty  ob  berries  left." 

Madame  Duchesne  had  already  been  consulted.  She  would 
much  rather  have  remained  until  strong  enough  to  walk,  but 
on  her  old  nurse's  showing  her  that  it  would  be  at  least  a  fort- 
night before  she  could  walk  even  a  mile,  and  pointing  out 
the  danger  there  was  in  delay,  she  agreed  to  start  whenever 
they  thought  fit.  The  jewels  were  placed  in  Dinah's  capacious 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  175 

pocket,  as,  if  they  fell  in  with  any  strong  party  of  negroes,  she 
would  be  less  likely  to  be  searched  than  the  others.  In  an 
hour  all  the  preparations  were  completed  ;  one  pistol  was  given 
to  Madame  Duchesne  and  another  to  her  daughter.  Dinah 
took  charge  of  a  brace,  and  Nat  wore  the  other  two  brace  in 
his  sash.  He  still  wore  his  uniform  under  his  nankeen  suit, 
and  his  naval  cap  was  in  the  bundle  that  formed  Madame 
Duchesne's  pillow.  She  lay  down  on  the  hand-barrow,  all  the 
blankets  being  placed  under  her,  with  the  exception  of  one 
which  was  thrown  over  her,  and  she  was  let  down  the  precipice 
in  the  same  way  as  she  had  been  brought  up. 

Dinah  this  time  followed  Nat's  example,  and  used  one  of  the 
mulattoes'  sashes  as  a  yoke  to  take  the  weight  off  her  arms. 
Madame  Duchesne  was  placed  as  far  forward  on  the  barrow  as 
possible,  so  as  to  divide  the  weight  more  equally  between  her 
bearers.  On  raising  her,  Nat  found  to  his  satisfaction  that  it 
hurt  him  but  little.  In  the  week  that  had  elapsed  since  she 
was  seized  with  the  fever,  Madame  Duchesne  had  lost  a  good 
deal  of  weight,  the  store  of  provisions  had,  too,  greatly  dimin- 
ished, and  the  sash  took  so  much  of  the  weight  off  his  arms, 
that  as  he  walked  in  a  perfectly  erect  position  there  was  little 
strain  thrown  upon  the  broken  bone.  It  was  only  when  he 
came  to  a  rough  place  and  had  to  step  very  carefully  that  he 
really  felt  his  wounds.  Myra  looked  anxiously  at  him  from 
time  to  time. 

"  I  am  getting  on  capitally,"  he  said.  "  Do  not  worry  about 
me ;  at  present  I  scarcely  feel  that  unfortunate  rib." 

"  Mind,  if  you  do  feel  it,  Nat,  you  must  give  up.  Dinah 
will  take  your  place,  and  I  will  take  hers.  I  am  sure  that  I 
can  carry  that  end  very  well  for  a  time." 

"  I  will  let  you  know  when  I  want  a  change,"  Nat  said. 
:e  Now,  you  go  on  ahead,  and  as  soon  as  we  get  out  of  this 
hollow  use  your  eyes  sharply." 


176  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

They  saw  no  one  going  up  the  valley  or  crossing  the  open 
ground.  When,  however,  they  entered  the  forest  on  the  other 
slope,  they  saw  for  the  first  time  how  terrible  had  been  the 
force  of  the  hurricane.  In  some  places  over  acres  of  ground 
every  tree  had  fallen,  in  others  the  taller  trees  only  had  been 
levelled  or  snapped  off,  while  others  again  had  boughs  wrenched 
off,  and  the  ground  was  thickly  strewn  with  fallen  branches. 
All  this  added  greatly  to  the  fatigue  of  travelling.  Detours 
had  to  be  constantly  made,  and  the  journey  down  took  them 
double  the  time  that  had  been  occupied  in  the  ascent.  When 
approaching  the  road  they  had  to  cross,  they  sat  down  and 
rested  for  half  an  hour. 

"  You  are  looking  very  white,  Nat,"  Myra  said ;  "  I  am  afraid 
that  your  side  is  hurting  you  terribly." 

"  It  certainly  hurts  a  bit,  Myra,  but  it  is  of  no  consequence. 
It  was  going  on  very  well  until  I  stumbled  over  a  fallen  branch 
that  gave  it  rather  a  twist." 

'"  You  let  me  bandage  'im  again,  Marse  Glober.  We  will  go 
off  and  set  dis  matter  right." 

When  a  short  distance  away  Nat  stripped  to  the  waist. 
Myra  had  done  her  best,  but  the  old  nurse  possessed  consider- 
able skill  in  such  matters,  and  strength  enough  to  draw  the 
bandage  much  tighter  than  she  had  done. 

"  Better  make  it  a  bit  longer,"  she  said,  and  taking  a  pair  of 
scissors  from  her  pocket  cut  off  a  strip  some  fifteen  inches  wide 
from  her  ample  petticoat,  and  wound  this  tightly  round  the 
other  bandage.  "  Dere,  sah,  dat  make  you  'tiff  and  comf  able." 

"  It  does  make  me  stiff,"  Nat  said  with  a  smile ;  "  I  almost 
feel  as  if  I  had  got  a  band  of  iron  round  me.  Thank  you  ;  I 
shall  do  very  well  now." 

The  old  nurse  dressed  him  carefully  again,  and  they  rejoined 
the  others. 

"That  is  ever  so  much  better/'  Nat  said  to  Myra;   "the 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  177 

bandage  had  shifted  a  little,  and  Dinah  has  put  it  on  fresh  again, 
and  added  a  strip  of  her  own  petticoat." 

The  journey  was  then  resumed,  and,  with  an  occasional  halt, 
continued  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  by  which  time  they  were 
well  down  on  the  plain.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  day 
they  had  heard  at  first  scattered  shots  and  then  a  roar  of  mus- 
ketry about  a  couple  of  miles  on  their  right.  It  continued  for 
half  an  hour,  and  then  the  heavy  firing  ceased;  but  musket 
shots  could  be  heard  occasionally,  and  higher  up  on  the  hill 
than  before. 

"  The  negroes  have  been  beaten,"  Nat  said,  "  and  our  men 
are  pursuing  them.  Perhaps  they  will  make  another  stand 
at  the  point  where  the  road  runs  between  two  steep  banks." 

This  indeed  seemed  to  be  the  case,  for  half  an  hour  later  a 
heavy  fire  broke  out  again.  It  was  but  for  a  short  time  —  in  ten 
minutes  it  died  away,  and  no  further  sound  was  heard.  Dark- 
ness was  now  falling,  and  they  presently  arrived  at  some 
buildings  that  had  been  left  standing.  They  were  storehouses, 
and  had  not  been  fired  at  the  time  when  the  planter's  house 
was  burned,  but  had  probably  been  used  by  the  negroes  as 
a  barrack,  until  the  advance  of  the  troops  on  the  previous  day 
had  compelled  them  to  take  a  hasty  flight.  The  litter  was  now 
laid  on  the  ground.  Madame  Duchesne  had  dozed  off  many 
times  during  the  day,  and  was  now  wide  awake. 

"  Are  you  going  to  light  a  fire,  Dinah?" 

"  No,  madame  ;  Marse  Glober  and  me  tink  it  too  dangerous. 
Not  likely  any  ob  dese  black  fellows  'bout,  but  dere  might  be 
some  hiding,  best  to  be  careful.  We  hab  a  cold  chicken  to 
eat,  and  dere  is  some  chicken  jelly  in  de  lillie  pot  for  you, 
and  we  hab  bread,  so  no  need  for  fire  to  cook,  and  sartin  no 
need  for  him  afterward,  we  all  sleep  first-rate.  Madame  not 
heaby,  but  road  bery  rough,  and  little  weight  tell  up  by  end 
ob  de  day.  Dinah  getting  ole  woman,  Marse  Glober  got  rib 

12 


178  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

broken  —  both  bery  glad  when  journey  done.  Mamzelle  she 
tired  too ;  twelve  mile  ober  rough  ground  a  long  journey  for 
her." 

"  My  feet  ache  a  little, "  Myra  said,  "  but  otherwise  I  do  not 
feel  tired.  I  felt  quite  ashamed  of  myself  walking  along  all 
day  carrying  nothing,  instead  of  taking  turns  with  you." 

There  was  but  little  talking  as  they  ate  their  meal  hi  the 
darkness.  Neither  Nat  nor  the  old  nurse  had  said  a  word  as 
to  their  feelings  as  they  walked,  but  both  felt  completely  ex- 
hausted, and  it  was  not  many  minutes  after  they  had  finished 
their  supper  before  they  were  sound  asleep.  At  daybreak  they 
were  on  their  feet  again,  feeling  better  after  the  long  night's 
rest,  and  happy  at  the  thought  that  this  day's  walk  would  take 
them  to  home  and  safety.  Nat  now  threw  off  his  disguise, 
placed  his  cap  upon  his  head,  and  appeared  as  a  British  officer, 
though  certainly  one  of  considerably  darker  complexion  than 
was  common ;  but  he  thought  there  was  less  danger  now  from 
slaves  than  from  parties  of  maddened  whites,  who  had  been 
out  to  their  former  homes  and  might  shoot  any  negroes  they 
came  upon  without  waiting  to  ask  questions.  Myra  also  dis- 
carded the  negro  gown. 

"  I  think  that  I  looked  more  respectable  in  that,"  she  said 
with  a  laugh,  "  than  in  this  draggled  white  frock." 

"It  has  not  been  improved,  certainly,  by  its  week's  wear, 
Myra ;  but  just  at  the  present  moment  no  one  will  be  thinking 
of  dresses.  Now  let  us  be  off.  We  shall  be  on  the  road  soon, 
and  in  an  hour  or  two  will  be  in  the  town." 

It  seemed  easy  work  after  the  toil  of  the  previous  day. 
They  bore  to  the  right  until  they  fell  into  the  main  road,  both 
because  it  would  be  safer,  and  because  Nat  hoped  that  he 
might  meet  someone  who  could  inform  Monsieur  Duchesne  — • 
who  he  had  no  doubt  would  have  gone  out  with  the  column — • 
that  his  wife  and  daughter  were  in  safety,  and  that  he  would 


THE   JOURNEY    TO   THE   COAST. 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  179 

find  them  at  his  house  in  the  town.  They  had,  indeed,  gone 
but  a  short  distance  along  the  road  when  four  men  on  horse- 
back galloped  up.  They  drew  rein  suddenly  as  they  met  the 
little  party,  astonished  to  see,  as  they  thought,  a  mulatto  girl 
in  front,  a  negro  woman  carrying  a  litter  on  which  was  an- 
other mulatto  woman,  and  which  was  carried  behind  by  a 
young  mulatto  in  the  uniform  of  a  British  naval  officer.  Had 
they  met  them  out  in  the  country  they  would  probably  not  have 
troubled  to  ask  questions,  but,  travelling  as  they  were  along 
the  road  towards  the  town,  and  from  the  direction  where  the 
column  had  been  fighting,  it  was  evident  that  there  must  be 
some  mystery  about  it. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  one  of  them  asked  Nat  in  a  rough  tone. 

"  I  am  an  officer  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  frigate  Orpheus, 
at  present,  I  believe,  in  the  port ;  this  lady  on  the  stretcher  is 
Madame  Duchesne ;  this  young  lady  is  her  daughter,  Made- 
moiselle Myra  Duchesne  ;  this  negress,  the  faithful  nurse  of  the 
two  ladies,  has  saved  their  lives  at  the  risk  of  her  own." 

One  of  the  horsemen  leapt  from  his  saddle. 

"  Pardon  me  for  not  recognizing  you,  mademoiselle,"  he  said 
to  Myra,  lifting  his  straw-hat ;  "  but  the  change  that  you  have 
made  in  your  complexion  must  be  my  excuse  for  my  not 
having  done  so.  I  trust  that  madame,  your  mother,  is  not 
seriously  ill." 

"She  has  been  very  ill,  Monsieur  Ponson,"  she  replied. 
"  She  has  just  recovered  from  an  attack  of  fever,  but  is  very 
weak  indeed." 

"  I  saw  your  father  three  days  ago.  He  had  then  just  re- 
ceived your  message  saying  that  you  were  in  safe  hiding.  He 
was,  of  course,  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  delight.  He  went  out 
with  the  troops  yesterday." 

"  If  you  see  him,  sir,  will  you  be  kind  enough  to  tell  him  that 
you  have  met  us,  and  that  he  will  find  us  at  his  house  in  town?" 


180  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  I  will  certainly  find  him  out  as  soon  as  I  reach  the  troops. 
Is  there  anything  else  that  I  can  do  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  thank  you,  sir.     Is  there,  Nat  ?  " 

"  No,  unless  one  of  the  gentlemen  would  ride  back  with  us, 
so  as  to  prevent  us  from  being  stopped  by  every  party  we 
meet  and  having  to  explain  who  we  are." 

"  I  will  do  so,  sir,"  the  youngest  of  the  horsemen  said.  "  I 
dare  say  I  shall  be  able  to  join  our  friends  at  the  front  before 
there  is  any  more  fighting,  for  the  messenger  who  came  in 
yesterday  evening  brought  the  news  that  the  blacks  had  been 
so  completely  defeated,  that  it  was  thought  likely  they  would 
make  straight  off  into  the  mountains  in  the  interior." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  sir ;  it  will  be  a  great  comfort  to  us 
to  go  straight  on.  We  are  anxious  to  get  Madame  Duchesne 
into  shelter  before  the  sun  gets  to  its  full  power.  My  name  is 
Glover.  May  I  ask  yours  ?  " 

"It  is  Laurent." 

The  other  three  horsemen,  after  raising  their  hats  in  salute, 
had  now  ridden  on. 

"How  did  you  get  on  through  the  hurricane,  Monsieur 
Glover?" 

"We  scarce  felt  it.  We  were  in  a  cave  with  a  very 
small  entrance,  and  after  the  first  outburst  slept  through  it 
in  comfort." 

"  It  is  more  than  any  of  us  did  in  the  town,"  the  other  said 
with  a  laugh.  "It  was  tremendous.  I  should  say  that  half 
the  houses  were  unroofed,  and  in  the  poor  quarters  many  of 
the  huts  were  blown  down,  and  upwards  of  twenty  negroes 
were  killed." 

"Do  you  think,  Monsieur  Laurent,"  Myra  said,  moving 
across  to  him,  "  that  we  are  likely  to  meet  any  people  on  foot 
whom  we  could  hire?" 

"  No,  I  hardly  think  so,  mademoiselle.     All  the  gentlemen 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  181 

in  the  town  who  could  get  away  rode  out  with  the  troops,  and 
the  rest  of  the  whites  are  patrolling  the  streets  armed,  lest  the 
negroes  employed  in  the  work  of  the  port  should  rise  during 
the  absence  of  the  troops.  Why  do  you  ask,  mademoiselle  ?  " 

"  Because  Monsieur  Glover  had  a  rib  broken  by  a  pistol-ball 
the  day  before  yesterday,  and  I  am  sure  it  hurts  him  very 
much  to  carry  my  mother." 

The  young  man  leapt  from  his  horse. 

"Monsieur,"  he  exclaimed,  "pray  take  my  horse.  I  will 
assist  in  carrying  Madame  Duchesne." 

"  I  do  not  like  "  —  Nat  began,  but  his  remonstrance  was 
unheeded. 

"  But  I  insist,  monsieur.  Please  take  the  reins.  You  can 
walk  by  the  side  of  the  horse  or  mount  him,  whichever  you 
think  will  be  the  more  easy  for  you." 

So  saying,  he  gently  possessed  himself  of  the  handles  of  the 
litter,  placed  the  sash  over  his  shoulders,  and  started.  It  was 
indeed  an  immense  relief  to  Nat.  The  rough  work  of  the  pre- 
ceding day  had  caused  the  ends  of  the  bone  to  grate,  and  had 
set  up  a  great  deal  of  inflammation.  He  had  been  suffering 
acutely  since  he  started,  in  spite  of  the  support  of  the  bandage, 
and  he  had  more  than  once  thought  that  he  would  be  obliged 
to  ask  Myra  to  take  his  place.  He  did  not  attempt  to  mount 
in  the  young  Frenchman's  saddle,  for  he  thought  that  the 
motion  of  the  horse  would  be  worse  for  him  than  walking ;  he 
therefore  took  the  reins  in  his  hand,  and  walked  at  the  horse's 
head  behind  the  litter.  The  pain  was  less  now  that  he  was 
relieved  of  the  load,  but  he  still  suffered  a  great  deal,  and 
he  kept  in  the  rear  behind  the  others,  while  Myra  chatted 
with  Monsieur  Laurent,  learning  from  him  what  had  happened 
in  the  town,  and  giving  him  a  sketch  of  their  adventures. 
As  they  passed  the  house  of  Madame  Duchesne's  sister,  the 
invalid  said  that  she  would  be  taken  in  there,  as  she  had  heard 


182  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

from  Monsieur  Laurent  that  their  own  house  was  partially 
unroofed.  Myra  ran  in  to  see  her  aunt,  who  came  out  with  her 
at  once. 

"  Ah,  my  dear  sister,"  she  cried,  "  how  we  have  suffered ! 
We  had  no  hope  that  you  had  escaped  until  your  husband 
brought  us  the  joyful  news  three  days  ago  that  you  were 
still  in  safety.  Come  in,  come  in !  I  am  more  glad  than  ever 
that  our  house  escaped  without  much  damage  from  the  storm." 

Although  the  house  was  intact,  the  garden  was  a  wreck. 
The  drive  up  to  the  house  was  blocked  by  fallen  trees,  most 
of  the  plants  seemed  to  have  been  torn  up  by  the  roots  and 
blown  away,  the  lawn  was  strewn  with  huge  branches. 

Two  of  the  house  servants  had  now  come  out  and  relieved 
those  carrying  the  litter. 

"  Ah,  Monsieur  Glover,"  continued  Madame  Duchesne's 
sister,  "  once  again  you  have  saved  my  niece ;  my  sister  also 
this  time  !  Of  course  you  will  come  in  too." 

"  Thanks,  madame,  but  if  you  will  allow  me  I  will  go 
straight  on  board  my  ship.  I  am  wounded,  though  in  no  way 
seriously.  Still,  I  shall  require  some  medical  care,  for  I  have 
a  rib  broken,  and  the  journey  down  has  not  improved  it." 

"  In  that  case  I  will  not  press  you,  monsieur.  Dr.  Lepel 
has  gone  out  with  the  column,  and  may  not  be  back  for  some 
days." 

"  Good-bye,  Madame  Duchesne  !  "  Nat  said,  shaking  the  thin 
hand  she  held  out  to  him.  "  I  will  come  and  see  you  soon, 
and  hope  to  find  you  up  by  that  time.  Now  that  your 
anxiety  is  at  an  end  you  ought  to  gain  strength  rapidly." 

"  May  Heaven  bless  you,"  she  said,  "  for  your  goodness  to 
us!" 

"That  is  all  right,"  he  said  cheerfully.  "You  see,  I  was 
saving  my  own  life  as  well  as  yours ;  and  it  is  to  you, 
Dinah,"  he  said,  turning  and  shaking  her  hand,  "  it  is  to  you 


AFLOAT   AGAIN  183 

that  we  really  all  owe  our  lives.  First  you  warned  us  in 
time,  then  you  took  us  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  have  since 
got  us  food  and  news,  and  risked  your  own  life  in  doing  so. 

"  Good-bye,  Myra ;  I  hope  that  when  I  see  you  again  you 
will  have  got  that  dye  off  your  face,  and  that  you  will  be  none 
the  worse  for  what  you  have  gone  through." 

The  girl's  lip  quivered. 

"  Good-bye,  Nat.     I  do  so  hope  your  wound  will  soon  heal." 

"  You  are  fortunate,  indeed,  in  having  escaped,"  Monsieur 
Laurent  said  as  they  turned  away.  "From  all  we  hear,  I 
fear  that  very  few  of  the  whites,  except  in  plantations  quite 
near  the  towns,  have  escaped.  It  is  strange  that  the  house 
servants,  who  in  most  cases  have  been  all  their  lives  with  their 
masters  and  mistresses,  and  who  have  almost  always  been 
treated  as  kindly  as  if  they  were  members  of  the  family, 
should  not  have  warned  them  of  what  was  coming." 

"I  should  think  that  very  few  of  them  knew,"  Nat 
replied.  "  They  were  known  to  be  attached  to  their  masters 
and  mistresses,  and  would  hardly  have  been  trusted  by  the 
others.  I  cannot  think  so  badly  of  human  nature  as  to  believe 
that  a  people  who  have  been  so  long  in  close  connection  with 
their  masters  should,  in  almost  every  case,  have  kept  silent 
when  they  knew  that  there  was  a  plot  to  massacre  them." 

"Well,  I  will  say  good-morning,"  Monsieur  Laurent  said. 
"  I  want  to  be  back  with  the  troops.  I  was  detained  yester- 
day, to  my  great  disgust,  to  see  to  the  getting-off  of  a  freight, 
and  I  should  not  like  to  miss  another  chance  of  paying  some 
of  the  scoundrels  off." 

Nat  made  his  way  slowly  and  carefully — for  the  slightest 
movement  gave  him  great  pain  —  to  the  wharf.  One  of  the 
frigate's  boats  was  ashore.  The  coxswain  looked  at  him  with 
surprise  as  he  went  down  the  steps  to  it. 

"Well,  I'm  jiggered,"  the  man  muttered,  "if  it  ain't  Mr. 


184  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

Glover !  "  Then  he  said  aloud :  "  Glad  to  see  you  back,  sir. 
The  ship's  crew  were  all  glad  when  they  heard  the  other  day 
that  the  news  had  come  as  how  you  were  safe,  for  we  had 
all  been  afraid  you  had  been  murdered  by  them  niggers. 
You  are  looking  mighty  queer,  sir,  if  I  may  say  so." 

"  My  face  is  stained  to  make  me  look  like  a  mulatto.  Whom 
are  you  waiting  for?" 

"  For  Mr.  Normandy." 

"  Well,  how  long  do  you  expect  he  will  be  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say,  sir.  It  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  since  he 
landed,  and  he  said  he  would  be  back  in  half  an  hour ;  but 
officers  are  generally  longer  than  they  expect." 

"  Well  it  won't  take  you  above  ten  minutes  to  row  off  to 
the  ship  and  back.  I  will  take  the  blame  if  he  comes  down 
before  that.  I  have  been  wounded,  not  badly,  but  it  is  very 
painful.  I  want  to  get  it  properly  dressed." 

"  All  right,  sir,  we  will  get  you  on  board  in  no  time." 

"  Give  me  your  arm.    I  must  get  in  carefully." 

The  men  stretched  to  their  oars,  and  in  five  minutes  Nat 
was  alongside  the  Orpheus.  He  had  heard,  as  he  expected, 
that  Dr.  Bemish  had  gone  with  the  party  that  had  been 
landed,  but  his  assistant  was  on  board.  The  first  lieutenant 
was  on  deck.  He  saw  by  Nat's  walk  as  he  went  up  to  report 
his  return  that  something  was  the  matter. 

"  Are  you  ill  or  wounded,  Mr  Glover  ?  " 

"  I  am  wounded,  sir.  I  had  a  rib  broken  by  a  pistol-ball,  and 
I  have  had  a  long  journey,  which  has  inflamed  it  a  good  deal." 

"  Go  down  at  once  and  have  it  seen  to ;  you  can  tell  me 
your  story  afterwards.  Have  the  ladies  who  were  with  you 
got  safely  down  also?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

The  lieutenant  nodded,  and  Nat  then  went  below  and  placed 
himself  in  the  hands  of  the  assistant  surgeon. 


AFLOAT   AGAIN  185 

"  My  word,  Glover,  you  have  got  your  wound  into  a  state  ! " 
the  latter  said  after  he  had  examined  him.  "  What  on  earth 
have  you  been  doing  to  it  ?  It  seems  to  have  been  a  pretty 
clean  break  at  first,  and  it  would  n't  have  bothered  you  above 
three  weeks  or  so,  but  the  ends  have  evidently  been  sawing  away 
into  the  flesh.  Why,  man  alive,  what  have  you  been  doing  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  helping  to  carry  a  sick  woman  down  from 
the  hills,"  Nat  said  quietly.  "If  it  had  been  level  ground  it 
would  not  have  hurt  so  much,  but  on  rough  ground  strewn 
with  branches  one  could  not  avoid  stumbling  occasionally,  and 
although  it  had  been  bandaged  before  I  started  the  wad  slipped 
and  the  thing  got  loose,  and  after  that  it  was  like  walking  with 
a  red-hot  needle  sticking  into  me." 

"  So  I  should  say.  Well,  I  will  put  you  into  a  berth  in  the 
sick-bay  at  once.  Fortunately  we  have  some  ice  on  board 
and  I  will  put  some  of  it  on  the  wound  and  try  to  get  the 
inflammation  down." 

In  a  short  time  he  returned  with  a  basin  of  ice  and  a  jugful 
of  iced  lime-juice.  Nat  took  a  long  drink,  and  then  turned 
so  that  the  ice  could  be  applied  to  the  wound. 

"You  must  keep  yourself  as  still  as  you  can.  I  sha'n't 
attempt  to  bandage  you  at  present,  there  is  really  nothing  to 
be  done  till  we  have  got  the  inflammation  down." 

"  I  will  lie  quiet  as  long  as  I  am  awake,  but  I  cannot 
answer  for  myself  if  I  go  off  to  sleep,  which  will  not  be  long, 
for  I  am  as  tired  as  a  dog.  To-day's  walk  would  have  been 
nothing  if  I  had  been  all  right,  it  was  the  pain  that  wore  me 
out." 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  will  move.  You  may  be  sure  that 
that  rib  will  act  like  an  alarm,  and  give  you  warning  at  once 
if  you  stir  in  the  slightest." 

Having  seen  Nat  comfortable,  the  young  surgeon  went  up 
on  deck. 


186  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  How  do  you  find  Mr.  Glover?  "  the  first  lieutenant  asked. 
"  He  says  that  it  is  only  a  broken  rib." 

"  Well,  sir,  it  was  only  a  broken  rib  at  first,  now  it  is  a  broken 
rib  with  acute  inflammation  round  it.  There  is  a  flesh  wound 
about  four  inches  long  where  the  bullet  struck,  broke  the  rib, 
ran  along  it,  and  went  out  behind.  That  would  not  have  been 
anything  if  he  had  kept  quiet ;  as  it  is,  it  is  as  angry  as  you 
could  want  to  see  a  wound.  But  that  is  not  the  worst,  the 
two  ends  of  the  bone  have  been  rubbing  against  each  other 
with  enough  movement  to  lacerate  the  flesh,  with  the  natural 
result  that  a  wonderful  amount  of  inflammation  has  been  set  up 
round  it." 

"  But  how  did  he  manage  it  ?  " 

"  It  seems,  sir,  that  he  has  been  carrying,  or  helping  to  carry, 
a  sick  woman  down  from  the  mountains,  and  he  says  the 
ground  was  very  rough  and  strewn  with  boughs,  so  that  one 
can  understand  that  he  got  some  terrible  shakes  and  jolts,  which 
would  quite  account  for  the  state  of  his  wounds." 

"  I  should  think  so.  When  Monsieur  Duchesne  came  off 
with  the  news  that  his  wife  was  safely  hidden,  and  that  Glover 
was  with  her,  he  said  that  his  daughter,  who  had  written  the 
note,  reported  that  her  mother  was  ill.  No  wonder  he  has 
got  his  wound  in  such  a  state  if  he  has,  as  you  say,  aided  to 
carry  her  down  all  that  distance.  He  must  have  had  a  brush 
with  the  negroes." 

"  That  must  have  been  before  he  started,  sir ;  for  he  said  that 
the  bandage  shifted,  so  his  wound  must  have  been  bound  up 
before  he  set  out." 

"  It  was  a  gallant  thing  for  a  lad  to  undertake  —  a  most 
gallant  action  !  Why,  it  must  have  been  torture  to  him." 

"  It  must  indeed,  sir." 

"  He  is  not  in  any  danger,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  Not  unless  fever  intervenes,  sir.     No  doubt  with  rest  and 


AFLOAT  AGAIN  187 

quiet  and  the  use  of  ice  we  shall  succeed  in  reducing  the  in- 
flammation ;  but  it  is  likely  enough  that  fever  may  set  in,  and 
if  so  there  is  no  saying  how  it  may  go.  I  shall  be  glad  to  have 
Doctor  Bemish  back  again  to  take  the  responsibility  off  my 
hands." 

Late  that  afternoon  Monsieur  Duchesne  came  on  board  to 
thank  Nat.  He  was  not  allowed  to  see  him,  as  the  doctor  said 
that  absolute  quiet  was  indispensable.  He  had  had  a  full 
account  from  Myra  of  the  adventures  through  which  the  little 
party  had  gone,  and  he  retailed  this  to  the  lieutenant  and 
doctor  in  the  ward-room. 

"  A  most  gallant  business  altogether,"  the  first  lieutenant 
said  when  he  had  finished,  "and  certainly  the  most  gallant 
part  of  it  was  undertaking  to  carry  Madame  Duchesne  when 
practically  disabled.  But  I  can  understand,  as  you  say,  that 
directly  the  negroes  were  defeated  by  the  force  that  went  out 
against  them,  some  of  them  would  have  made  for  that 
cave,  and  it  was  therefore  absolutely  necessary  to  get  away 
before  they  came.  However,  I  hope  that  we  need  not  be 
anxious  about  him ;  he  has  gone  through  three  or  four  scrapes, 
any  of  which  might  have  been  fatal.  There  was  that  fight 
with  the  dog ;  then  he  was  in  the  thick  of  that  business  with 
the  pirates,  and  was  blown  up  by  the  explosion,  and  half  his 
crew  killed.  He  has  had  some  marvellous  escapes,  and  I  think 
we  may  feel  very  hopeful  that  he  will  get  over  this  without 
serious  trouble.  It  was  lucky  indeed  his  finding  your  family 
jewels  on  two  of  those  scoundrels  that  he  shot." 

"  It  would  have  been  a  great  loss,  but  it  is  such  a  little  thing 
in  comparison  to  the  saving  of  my  wife  and  daughter,  that  I 
have  scarcely  given  it  a  thought.  I  shall  do  myself  the  pleasure 
of  calling  again  to-morrow  morning  to  know  how  he  is." 

"  Do  so,  monsieur ;  you  will  probably  find  Captain  Crosbie 
here.  I  had  a  note  from  him  an  hour  ago,  saying  that  he  was 


188  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

returning,  and  would  be  here  by  eight  o'clock.  The  negroes 
having  been  defeated,  and  the  safety  of  the  town  being  ensured 
for  a  while,  he  does  not  consider  that  he  would  be  justified  in 
joining  in  the  pursuit  of  the  blacks  among  the  hills." 

Nat  was  not  aware  of  the  return  of  the  landing-party  until 
the  next  morning,  when  on  opening  his  eyes  he  saw  Dr.  Bemish 
by  his  side. 

"You  young  scamp,"  the  latter  said,  shaking  his  finger  at 
him,  "you  seem  determined  to  be  a  permanent  patient.  As 
soon  as  you  recover  from  one  injury  you  are  laid  up  with 
another.  So  here  you  are  again." 

"  It  is  only  a  trifle  this  time,  doctor." 

"  Umph,  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that.  Macfarlane  tells  me 
that,  not  content  with  getting  a  rib  broken,  you  go  about  carry- 
ing one  end  of  a  stretcher  with  a  woman  on  it  across  ground 
where  it  was  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  move  without  ricking 
and  hurting  yourself.  So  that  not  only  have  you  set  up  a 
tremendous  amount  of  inflammation  round  the  wound,  but  you 
have  so  worn  the  ends  of  the  bone  that  they  will  take  three 
times  as  long  knitting  together  as  they  would  have  done  had 
they  been  left  alone." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  is  all  true,  doctor,"  Nat  replied  with  a 
smile ;  "  but,  you  see,  I  thought  it  better  to  run  the  risk  of 
inflammation,  and  even  this  terrible  rubbing  of  the  end  of  the 
bones  you  speak  of,  than  of  being  caught  by  these  fiendish 
negroes,  and  put  to  death  by  the  hideous  tortures  with  which 
they  have  in  many  cases  slowly  murdered  those  who  fell  into 
their  hands." 

"  It  must  have  hurt  you  badly,"  Dr.  Bemish  said,  as,  after 
removing  the  dressing  that  had,  late  the  evening  before,  been 
substituted  for  the  ice,  he  examined  the  wound. 

"  It  did  hurt  a  bit,  doctor,  but  as  four  lives  depended  upon 
my  being  able  to  hold  on,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 


AFLOAT   AGAIN  189 

set  one's  teeth  hard  and  keep  at  it.  How  does  it  look  this 
morning  ?  " 

"What  do  you  think,  Macfarlane?  you  can  form  a  better 
opinion  than  I  can,  as  I  have  not  seen  it  before." 

"  The  inflammation  seems  to  have  abated  a  good  deal." 

"  In  any  case  we  will  syringe  the  wound  thoroughly  with 
warm  water.  There  are  doubtless  some  particles  of  bone  in  it, 
and  until  these  are  got  rid  of  we  can't  hope  that  it  will  heal 
properly.  I  will  get  that  large  magnifying-glass  from  my 
cabin." 

For  half  an  hour  the  wound  was  fomented  and  washed. 

"  As  far  as  I  can  see  it  is  perfectly  clean  now,"  Dr.  Bemish 
said,  after  carefully  examining  it  with  the  glass.  "We  will 
put  a  compress  on,  with  a  wet  cloth  over  it,  which  must  be 
damped  with  iced  water  every  half- hour.  When  we  quite  get 
the  inflammation  down,  Glover,  which  will,  I  hope,  be  in  two 
or  three  days,  we  will  bandage  it  tightly,  and  I  will  buy  you  a 
pair  of  stays  on  shore,  and  lace  you  up  so  that  there  shall  be 
no  chance  of  your  performing  any  more  pranks  with  it,  and 
then  I  fancy  you  will  be  able  to  come  up  on  deck,  if  you  will 
promise  to  keep  yourself  quiet  there." 

"  Well,  that  is  better  than  I  expected,  doctor." 

"  Have  you  any  message  to  send  to  your  friends  ?  because  I 
am  going  ashore  now  to  see  them.  Monsieur  Duchesne  was 
off  yesterday  afternoon,  but  Macfarlane  very  properly  refused  to 
let  him  see  you." 

"  Tell  him  he  can't  see  me  for  some  days,  doctor.  I  do  so 
hate  being  made  a  fuss  over." 

"  I  will  keep  him  away  for  a  day  or  two  anyhow,"  the  doctor 
laughed.  "  He  gave  the  ward-room  a  full  history  of  your  affair, 
so  you  won't  have  the  trouble  of  going  over  it  again." 

"  That  is  a  comfort,"  Nat  growled.  "  How  long  is  the 
Orpheus  likely  to  stop  here,  doctor?" 


190  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Ah,  that  is  more  than  I  can  say  !  At  any  rate  the  captain 
will  not  leave  until  he  gets  orders  from  Jamaica.  The  sEolus 
has  just  come  into  port,  and  the  captain  will  send  her  off  at 
once  with  despatches  to  the  admiral,  saying  what  has  taken 
place,  and  how  he  landed  a  force  to  protect  the  town,  and 
went  out  with  a  party  to  attack  the  insurgent  blacks.  He  will 
ask  for  instructions,  as  they  have  no  French  vessel  of  war 
here,  and  the  land  force  is  insufficient  to  defend  the  place  if 
attacked  in  earnest,  especially  as  there  is  a  considerable  negro 
population  who  would  probably  rise  and  join  the  insurgents  if 
these  made  an  assault  upon  the  town.  The  general  hope  on 
board  is  that  we  shall  get  orders  to  stay  here,  or  at  least  to 
cruise  on  the  coast.  Now  that  we  have  broken  up  that  nest  of 
pirates,  things  are  likely  to  be  dull  here  for  some  time,  though 
I  have  little  doubt  that  ere  very  long  we  shall  be  at  war  with 
the  French.  According  to  the  last  news,  which  arrived  since 
you  left  us,  that  National  Assembly  of  theirs  is  going  farther 
and  farther,  and  its  proceedings  are  causing  serious  alarm 
throughout  Europe,  for  they  are  altogether  subversive  of  the 
existing  state  of  things.  It  is  to  its  measures  that  this  terrible 
insurrection  here  is  due,  and  the  first  consequence  of  what  is 
really  a  revolution  in  France  will  be  the  loss  of  her  most 
valuable  colony.  I  suppose  you  have  heard  that  something 
like  two  thousand  whites  have  been  murdered.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  now  they  have  recovered  from  the  first  shock,  the 
French  here  will  take  a  terrible  vengeance ;  but  though  they 
may  kill  a  great  number  of  the  negroes,  I  doubt  if  it  will  be 
possible  to  reduce  half  a  million  blacks  to  submission,  espe- 
cially in  an  island  like  this,  with  mountain  ranges  running 
through  it  where  cannon  would  be  absolutely  useless,  and  the 
negroes  could  shelter  in  the  almost  impenetrable  forests  that 
cover  a  large  portion  of  it." 


A  FIRST  COMMAND  191 

CHAPTER  XI 

A    FIRST    COMMAND 

FOR  another  couple  of  days  no  one  was  permitted  to  see 
Nat,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  wound  assumed  a 
healthy  aspect,  and  he  was  allowed  to  receive  visits.  Captain 
Crosbie  himself  was  the  first  to  come  down. 

"I  am  very  glad  to  hear  so  good  an  account  of  you,  Mr. 
Glover,"  he  said  cordially;  "you  have  done  us  credit  again, 
lad,  and  have  rendered  an  inestimable  service  to  Monsieur 
Duchesne  and  his  family.  Although  it  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  in  your  regular  course  of  duty,  I  shall  certainly  for- 
ward a  narrative  of  your  adventures  to  the  admiral.  The  next 
time  we  go  to  Port  Royal  you  had  better  go  in  for  your 
examination,  and  if  you  pass  I  have  very  little  doubt  that  act- 
ing rank  will  be  given  to  you  at  once.  Your  aiding  to  carry 
down  that  lady,  when  yourself  wounded,  was  really  a  very 
fine  action,  for  Doctor  Bemish  tells  me  that  you  must  have 
suffered  intensely.  Monsieur  Duchesne  is  most  anxious  to  see 
you,  but  the  doctor  has  told  him  that  it  will  be  better  for  him 
to  wait  until  you  are  well  enough  to  go  ashore,  when  you  can 
go  and  see  them  all  together." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,  I  would  much  rather  do  that.  But  really 
the  person  to  be  thanked  is  the  old  negress  who  gave  us 
warning  in  time  to  escape,  went  down  and  fetched  food,  de- 
spatched a  message  to  Monsieur  Duchesne,  and  got  an  answer 
back,  and  who  did  as  much  as  I  did  in  carrying  her  mistress 
down." 

"Doubtless  she  behaved  very  well,  Mr.  Glover,  but  that 
does  not  alter  the  fact  that  you  did  so  also.  And,  as  even  you 


192  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

will  admit,  she  had  no  hand  in  the  fight  in  which  you  killed 
eight  of  these  scoundrels." 

"  It  was  not  much  of  a  fight,  sir.  I  had  such  an  advantage 
in  position  that  I  really  did  not  like  shooting  them,  in  spite  of 
what  I  had  heard  of  their  doings ;  but  it  was  our  lives  or 
theirs,  and  I  knew  that  if  one  of  them  got  away  he  would 
bring  down  a  score  of  others,  and  they  would  speedily  have 
starved  us  out." 

"  At  the  present  time,"  the  captain  said  sternly,  "  mercy  to 
these  villains  would  be  misapplied  ;  the  lesson  must  be  a  terrible 
one,  or  there  will  speedily  be  an  end  to  white  rule  in  the 
island.  Another  thing  is,  that  were  this  revolution  to  suc- 
ceed, we  might  expect  similar  outbreaks  in  our  own  islands. 
Now  I  will  leave  you.  Your  comrades  will  come  in  to  see  you, 
but  their  visits  must,  for  the  present,  be  short." 

Nat  progressed  rapidly.  In  three  days  the  water-dressings 
were  given  up  and  he  was  tightly  bandaged,  and  over  this, 
rather  to  his  disgust,  the  doctor  insisted  upon  his  wearing  a 
pair  of  stays. 

"  It  is  all  very  well,  Glover,"  Doctor  Bemish  said  in  answer 
to  his  remonstrances,  "  but  we  know  what  you  are.  You  are 
as  active  as  a  cat,  and  would  be  constantly  forgetting  yourself, 
and  springing  to  do  something ;  but  these  things  laced  tightly 
on  will  act  as  a  reminder,  and  will  also  bind  you  so  closely 
together  that,  while  you  will  have  the  free  use  of  your 
limbs,  your  ribs  will  be  held  as  if  in  a  vice.  You  will 
have  to  keep  them  on  until  the  bone  has  fairly  knit,  and 
you  have  every  reason  to  be  thankful  that  this  is  the  only 
inconvenience  you  have  to  suffer  from  an  expedition  which 
might  have  cost  you  your  life." 

Four  days  later  Doctor  Bemish  said  : 

"  I  think  you  can  go  ashore  to-day.  Of  course  you  must  be 
careful,  especially,  getting  in  and  out  of  the  boat,  but  if  you 


A   FIRST   COMMAND  193 

do  that  and  walk  slowly,  I  do  not  think  it  will  do  you  any 
harm.  Madame  Duchesne  is  up  and  going  on  nicely,  and  they 
are  most  anxiously  expecting  you,  and  indeed  Duchesne  said 
yesterday,  that  if  I  did  not  let  you  go  on  shore  to-day,  he 
would  come  on  board  to  see  you." 

"  But  I  feel  like  a  hog  in  armour  in  these  stays,  doctor." 

"  Never  mind  that,  lad,  you  would  be  almost  as  bad  if  you 
took  them  off,  for  I  should  have  to  put  on  twice  as  many 
bandages,  and  to  pull  them  ever  so  much  tighter.  I  have  told 
the  captain  that  I  am  letting  you  go  ashore,  and  have  also  told 
Mr.  Philpot,  so  that  is  all  settled.  I  shall  be  going  off  myself 
in  an  hour,  and  will  take  you  with  me,  and  keep  an  eye  over 
you  until  you  get  to  their  gate." 

"One  would  think  that  I  was  a  small  boy  going  to  be  taken 
to  school,"  Nat  laughed,  stopping,  however,  abruptly. 

"  There  !  you  see,"  the  doctor  said,  "  that  gave  you  a  twinge, 
I  know ;  you  must  be  careful,  lad,  you  must,  indeed.  There 
is  no  objection  to  your  smiling  as  much  as  you  like,  but  there  is 
nothing  that  shakes  one  up  more  than  a  hearty  laugh.  That 
is  why  at  other  times  laughing  is  a  healthy  exercise,  but  with 
a  rib  in  the  process  of  healing,  it  is  better  not  to  indulge 
in  it." 

"  Well,  I  shall  be  ready  when  you  are." 

Nat  accomplished  the  journey  without  pain. 

"Won't  you  come  in,  doctor?"  he  asked  when  they  arrived 
at  the  gate. 

"  No,  Glover ;  this  will  be  a  sort  of  family  party.  I  have 
warned  Duchesne  not  to  throw  himself  on  your  neck,  and  have 
told  him  that  you  are  to  be  looked  at  and  not  touched." 

With  an  uneasy  smile  Nat  left  him  at  the  gate  and  walked 
up  the  drive.  They  were  evidently  on  the  watch  for 
him,  for  the  door  opened  almost  immediately,  and  Monsieur 
Duchesne  ran  down.  "  Mon  cher  ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  the  doctor 


194  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

has  said  that  I  must  not  touch  you,  but  I  can  scarce  refrain 
from  embracing  you.  How  can  I  thank  you  for  all  that  you 
have  done  ?  " 

"  But,  monsieur,  I  have  done  next  to  nothing.  I  shot  some 
negroes  who  had  not  a  chance  of  getting  at  me,  and  I  helped 
Dinah  to  carry  madame  down.  We  owe  our  safety  to  Dinah, 
who  was  splendid  in  her  devotion,  making  journeys  backwards 
and  forwards,  to  say  nothing  of  giving  us  the  warning  that 
enabled  us  all  to  escape  in  time." 

"  Dinah  was  splendid  !  "  Monsieur  Duchesne  admitted.  "  But 
I  can  do  nothing  for  her.  I  have  told  her  that  she  shall  have 
a  house  and  plenty  to  live  on  all  her  days,  but  she  will  not 
leave  us.  I  have  made  out  her  papers  of  freedom,  but  she 
says,  '  What  use  are  these  ?  I  have  been  your  servant  all  my  life, 
and  should  be  no  different  whether  I  was  what  you  call  a  free 
woman  or  not.'  What  pleased  her  most  was  that  I  have  given 
freedom  to  her  grandson  who  brought  the  message  down  here, 
and  am  going  to  employ  him  in  my  stable,  and  that  she  has 
received  a  new  black  silk  gown.  She  has  got  it  on  in  honour 
of  your  visit,  and  if  it  had  been  a  royal  robe  she  could  not  be 
more  proud  of  it." 

They  had  by  this  time  arrived  at  the  door,  and  Monsieur 
Duchesne  led  Nat  to  the  drawing-room,  where  his  wife  was 
lying  on  a  sofa,  and  Myra  standing  beside  her.  The  yellow 
dye  had  now  nearly  worn  off  their  faces.  Madame  Duchesne 
was  still  pale,  but  she  looked  bright  and  happy.  Nat  went  up 
to  her  and  took  her  hand. 

"  I  am  truly  glad  to  see  you  up  again,"  he  said. 

"  It  has  all  ended  well,"  she  replied  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 
"  It  seems  like  a  bad  dream  to  me,  especially  that  journey. 
How  good  and  kind  you  were !  and  I  know  now  how  terribly 
you  must  have  suffered." 

"  It  hurt  a  bit  at  the  time,  madame,  but  one  gets  accustomed 


A   FIRST   COMMAND  195 

to  being  hurt,  and  it  all  went  on  so  well  that  it  was  not  worth 
grumbling  about. 

"  Ah,  you  look  more  yourself  now,  Myra ! "  and  he  held  out 
his  hand  to  her. 

"  Embrace  him,  my  dear,  for  me  and  for  yourself.  Twice  has 
he  saved  your  life,  and  has  been  more  than  a  brother  to  you." 

Myra  threw  her  arms  round  Nat's  neck  and  kissed  him 
heartily  twice,  while  her  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  "  I  have  not 
hurt  you,  I  hope,"  she  said  as  he  drew  back. 

"  Not  a  bit,  and  I  should  not  have  minded  if  you  had,"  Nat 
said.  Then  he  sat  down,  and  they  talked  quietly  for  some 
time.  "  I  am  going  out  to-morrow  again,"  Monsieur  Duchesne 
said,  "  it  is  the  duty  of  every  white  to  join  in  punishing  these 
ungrateful  fiends.  I  hear  that  they  have  been  beaten  badly 
near  Port-au-Prince.  Some  of  the  negroes  are,  we  find,  remain- 
ing quietly  on  the  plantations,  and  these,  unless  they  have 
murdered  their  masters,  will  be  spared.  No  quarter  will  be 
given  to  those  taken  in  arms.  At  any  rate  we  shall  clear  all 
of  them  out  of  the  plains  near  the  bay,  and  drive  them  into 
the  mountains,  where  we  cannot  hope  to  subdue  them  till  a 
large  number  of  troops  arrive  from  home." 

So  vigorously,  indeed,  did  the  whites  pursue  the  negroes, 
that  in  a  fortnight  after  the  outbreak  it  was  calculated  that 
no  fewer  than  ten  thousand  blacks  had  fallen,  many  of  them 
being  put  to  death  by  methods  almost  as  cruel  and  ferocious 
as  those  they  had  themselves  adopted.  They  were  still  in  such 
vast  numbers  that  it  was  evident  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  overpower  them  until  troops  arrived  from  France ;  and, 
indeed,  the  farther  the  French  columns  penetrated  into  the 
mountains,  the  more  severe  was  the  resistance  they  met  with, 
and  on  several  occasions  the  whites  were  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss.  A  truce  was  therefore  agreed  upon,  it  being  arranged 
that  neither  party  should  attack  the  other  until  its  expiration. 


196  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

There  being,  therefore,  no  occasion  for  the  Orpheus  to  remain 
longer  at  Cape  Franfois,  she  sailed  for  Jamaica. 

Nat's  wounds  continued  to  go  on  well.  He  was  still  stiff, 
and  felt  the  advantages  of  the  encircling  stays  so  much  that 
he  no  longer  objected  to  wear  them.  As  it  was  likely  that, 
until  matters  were  finally  settled,  the  Orpheus  would  be  con- 
stantly cruising  on  the  coast  of  Hayti,  and  that  he  would  ere 
long  see  his  French  friends  again,  the  parting  was  not  a 
sad  one;  and,  indeed,  Nat  was  by  no  means  sorry  to  get 
under  way  again  to  escape  the  expressions  of  gratitude  of 
Monsieur  Duchesne  and  his  wife.  Two  days  after  arriving  at 
Port  Royal,  Nat  received  notice  that  a  court,  composed  of 
three  captains  of  vessels  then  in  port,  would,  on  the  following 
day,  sit  to  examine  midshipmen  who  had  either  served  their 
time  or  were  within  a  year  of  completing  it.  He  at  once  sent  in 
his  name.  As  he  had  read  hard  during  the  time  he  had  been 
unfit  for  service,  he  had  no  fear  of  not  passing  the  ordeal, 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  examination  he  was  told  by  the 
president  of  the  court  that  he  had  passed  with  great  credit. 

On  returning  to  the  frigate,  he  found  a  note  from  the 
admiral  requesting  him  to  call  upon  him  on  his  return  from 
the  court,  and  he  at  once  proceeded  to  the  flag-ship.  "I 
have  heard  a  great  deal  of  you,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  admiral  said 
when  he  was  ushered  into  his  cabin.  "  First  of  all  I  heard  the 
story  from  your  captain  of  the  gallant  manner  in  which  you, 
at  the  risk  of  your  own,  saved  a  young  lady's  life  at  Cape 
Fran£ois,  when  attacked  by  a  savage  hound,  and  were  seriously 
injured  thereby.  Then  I  received  Captain  Crosbie's  official 
report  of  the  share  you  took  in  the  attack  upon  that  formi- 
dable nest  of  pirates,  the  report  being  supplemented  by  his 
subsequent  relation  to  me  of  the  whole  facts  of  the  affair. 
Your  conduct  there  also  did  you  very  great  credit,  and,  had 
you  passed,  I  should  at  once  have  given  you  acting  rank.  Now 


A    FIRST    COMMAND  197 

you  have  again  distinguished  yourself,  though  scarcely  in  a 
manner  which  comes  under  my  official  knowledge.  I  should 
be  glad  to  hear  from  you  a  detailed  account  of  the  affair." 

When  Nat  had  finished  his  narration,  he  said,  "  You  have 
scarcely  done  justice  to  yourself.  Your  captain  and  Dr. 
Bemish  were  dining  with  me  last  night,  and  the  latter  said 
that,  wounded  as  you  were,  the  work  of  carrying  that  French 
lady  down  to  the  coast  must  have  been  an  intensely  painful 
one,  as  was  shown  by  the  state  of  your  wound  when  he 
examined  it.  In  all  these  matters  you  have  shown  courage 
and  conduct,  and  as  I  hear  that  you  have  now  passed,  I  shall 
take  the  first  opportunity  of  giving  you  acting  rank.  You 
speak  French  fluently?" 

"  I  speak  it  quite  fluently,  sir,  but  as  I  have  only  picked  it 
up  by  ear,  I  cannot  say  that  I  speak  it  well." 

"  However,  the  fact  that  you  speak  it  well  enough  to  con- 
verse freely  may  be  useful.  Hayti  is  likely  to  be  in  a 
very  disturbed  state  for  some  time.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  negroes  in  the  other  islands  are  all  watching  what 
takes  place  there  with  close  attention,  and  that  there  is  a 
possibility  of  the  revolt  spreading.  At  present  there  is  no 
saying  what  the  course  of  events  may  be.  Already  the  gover- 
nor here  has  received  letters  from  several  French  residents 
expressing  their  desire  that  we  should  take  the  island,  as 
they  believe  that  the  French  revolutionary  government  will 
make  no  serious  effort  to  put  down  the  rising.  Of  course,  at 
present,  as  we  are  at  peace  with  France,  nothing  whatever  can 
be  done.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  important  that  we  should 
obtain  accurate  information  as  to  what  is  going  on  there,  and 
what  is  the  feeling  of  the  negroes  and  of  the  mulatto  popula- 
tion, and  we  shall  probably  have  several  small  vessels  cruising 
in  those  waters.  The  Falcon,  under  the  command  of  Lieuten- 
ant Low,  who  also  belonged  to  the  Orpheus,  has  been  for  some 


198  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

weeks  on  the  southern  coast  of  the  island.  I  intend  to  have 
three  or  four  other  craft  at  the  same  work  soon,  and  on  the 
first  opportunity  I  shall  appoint  you  to  one  of  them." 

Nat  expressed  his  warm  thanks,  and  retired.  Three  or  four 
days  later  he  received  an  intimation  that  the  prize  Arrow,  a. 
schooner  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  would  at  once  be  put 
into  commission,  and  that  the  admiral  had  selected  him  for 
her  command.  This  was  far  more  than  Nat  had  even  hoped 
for.  From  the  manner  in  which  the  admiral  had  spoken,  he 
thought  that  he  would  be  appointed  to  a  craft  of  this  descrip- 
tion, but  he  had  no  expectation  whatever  of  being  given  the 
command.  With  the  intimation  was  an  order  for  him  to  again 
call  upon  the  admiral. 

"It  is  a  small  command,"  the  admiral  said  when  Nat  ex- 
pressed his  thanks  for  the  appointment.  "We  cannot  spare 
you  more  than  twenty-five  hands,  a  quarter-master,  and  two 
midshipmen.  You  will  have  Mr.  Turnbull  of  the  Leander  as 
your  first  officer,  and  Mr.  Lippincott  of  the  Pallas.  She  has 
carried  six  guns  hitherto,  but  you  will  only  take  four.  These, 
however,  will  be  twelve-pounders ;  before,  she  had  only  nines. 
Naturally,  it  is  not  intended  that  she  shall  do  any  fighting.  Of 
course,  if  you  are  attacked  you  will  defend  yourself,  but  you 
are  hardly  a  match  for  any  of  these  piratical  craft  except  quite 
the  smaller  class  —  native  boats  manned  by  bands  of  desperadoes. 
Your  mission  will  be  to  cruise  on  the  coast  of  Hayti,  to  take 
off  white  fugitives  should  any  show  themselves,  and  to  com- 
municate if  possible  with  the  negroes,  find  out  the  object  they 
propose  to  themselves,  and  report  on  their  forces,  organization, 
and  methods  of  fighting.  In  all  this  great  care  will  be  neces- 
sary, for  they  have  shown  themselves  so  faithless  and  treach- 
erous that  it  is  impossible  to  place  any  confidence  in  their 
promises  of  safe-conduct.  In  such  matters  it  is  impossible  to 
give  any  advice  as  to  your  conduct,  you  must  be  guided  by  cir- 


A   FIRST   COMMAND  199 

cumstances  ;  be  prudent  and  careful,  and  at  the  same  time  en- 
terprising. The  schooner  is  a  very  fast  one.  She  has  been  a 
slaver,  and  has  more  than  once  shown  her  heels  to  some  of  our 
fastest  cruisers.  Therefore,  if  you  come  across  any  piratical 
craft  too  big  to  fight,  you  will  at  least  have  a  fair  chance  of 
outsailing  her." 

Greatly  delighted,  Nat  returned  to  the  Orpheus, 

"  So,  you  are  going  to  leave  us,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  captain 
said  when  he  came  on  board.  "I  congratulate  you,  but  at 
the  same  time  we  shall  be  very  sorry  to  lose  you,  and  I  hope 
that  when  there  is  a  vacancy  we  shall  have  you  back  again. 
You  fully  deserve  your  promotion,  and  have  been  a  credit  to 
the  ship." 

The  next  day  Nat  moved  his  effects  ashore.  There  was  but 
little  leave-taking  between  him  and  his  comrades,  for  it  was 
certain  that  they  would  often  meet  at  Port  Royal.  He  spent 
his  time  for  the  next  fortnight  in  the  dockyard  seeing  to  the 
refitting  of  the  schooner.  The  superintendent  there  had  heard 
of  the  affair  with  the  dog,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
saved  the  lives  of  the  French  lady  and  her  daughter,  Dr. 
Bemish  being  an  old  friend  of  his.  He  was,  therefore,  much 
more  complaisant  than  dockyard  officials  generally  are  to  the 
demands  made  upon  them  by  young  lieutenants  in  command 
of  small  craft.  Indeed,  when  the  schooner  was  ready  for  sea 
Nat  had  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  her.  She  had  been 
provided  with  a  complete  suit  of  new  canvas,  all  her  woodwork 
had  been  scraped  and  varnished,  the  running  rigging  was  new, 
and  the  standing  rigging  had  also  been  renewed  wherever 
it  showed  signs  of  wear.  Her  ballast,  which  had  before  been 
almost  entirely  of  iron  ore,  was  now  of  pig-iron,  and  in  view 
of  the  extra  stability  so  given  she  had  had  new  topmasts  ten 
feet  higher  than  those  she  had  before  carried. 

"  I  should  advise  you  to  keep  your  weather  eye  lifting,  Mr. 


200  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

Glover,"  Captain  Crosbie  said  when  Nat  paid  his  farewell  visit 
to  the  frigate ;  "  that  craft  of  yours  looks  very  much  over- 
sparred.  If  you  were  caught  in  a  squall  with  your  topsails 
up  the  chances  are  you  would  turn  turtle." 

"  I  will  be  very  careful,  sir,"  Nat  said ;  "  although,  now  she 
has  iron  ballast,  I  think  that  even  with  the  slight  addition  in 
the  height  of  the  spars  she  will  be  as  stiff  as  she  was  before 
in  moderate  breezes,  while  she  will  certainly  be  faster  in  light 
winds." 

"That  is  so,"  the  captain  agreed;  "and  of  course  it  is  in 
light  winds  that  speed  is  of  the  most  importance.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  in  the  hands  of  a  careful  commander  a  large 
spread  of  canvas  is  a  great  advantage,  while  in  the  hands  of  a 
rash  one  a  craft  can  hardly  be  too  much  under- sparred." 

Turnbull,  Nat's  first  officer,  was  a  quiet  young  fellow,  a  few 
months  junior  to  Nat.  He  was  square  in  build,  with  a  reso- 
lute but  good-humoured  face,  and  Nat  had  no  doubt  that  the 
admiral  had  selected  him  as  being  likely  to  pull  better  with 
him  than  a  more  lively  and  vivacious  young  fellow  would  be. 
From  the  first  day  they  met  on  board  he  was  sure  that  he  and 
Turnbull  would  get  on  extremely  well  together.  The  latter 
carried  out  his  suggestions  and  orders  as  punctually  as  he 
would  have  done  those  of  a  post-captain,  going  about  his  work 
in  as  steady  and  business-like  a  way  as  if  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed for  years  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  first  officer.  One 
evening  Nat  had  asked  him  and  Lippincott  to  dine  with  him 
at  an  hotel,  and  ordered  a  private  room. 

"  I  think,"  he  said  when  the  meal  was  over  and  the  waiter 
had  placed  the  dessert  and  wine  on  the  table  and  had  retired, 
"that  we  are  going  to  have  a  very  pleasant  cruise.  I  am 
afraid  we  sha'n't  have  much  chance  of  distinguishing  ourselves 
in  the  fighting  way,  though  we  may  pick  up  some  of  those 
rascally  little  craft  that  prey  on  the  native  commerce  and 


A   FIRST  COMMAND  201 

capture  a  small  European  merchantman  occasionally.  With 
our  small  crew  we  certainly  cannot  regard  ourselves  as  a 
match  for  any  of  the  regular  pirates,  who  would  carry  vastly 
heavier  metal,  and  crews  of  at  least  four  times  our  strength. 
The  admiral  expressly  warned  me  that  it  was  not  intended 
that  the  Arrow  should  undertake  that  sort  of  business.  Our 
mission  is  rather  to  gain  news  of  what  passes  in  the  interior, 
pick  up  fugitives  who  may  be  hiding  in  the  woods,  and  act 
in  fact  as  a  sort  of  floating  observatory.  Any  righting,  there- 
fore, that  we  may  get  will  be  if  we  are  attacked.  In  that  case, 
of  course,  we  shall  do  our  best.  I  am  sure  we  shall  be  a 
pleasant  party  on  board.  Of  course  in  a  small  craft  like  this 
we  shall  mess  together.  It  is  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  dis- 
cipline, that  when  we  are  on  deck  we  should  follow  the  usual 
observances,  but  when  we  are  below  together  we  shall  be  three 
mess-mates  without  any  formality  or  nonsense." 

The  two  juniors  remained  on  their  ships  until  the  schooner 
was  out  of  the  hands  of  the  dockyard  men.  According  to 
custom,  Nat  did  not  join  until  they  and  the  crew  had  gone 
on  board  and  spent  a  day  in  scrubbing  the  decks  and  making 
everything  tidy  and  ship-shape;  then  the  gig  went  ashore  to 
fetch  him  off.  As  he  rowed  alongside  he  could  not  help 
smiling  at  seeing  the  sentries  at  the  gangway  and  the  two 
young  officers  standing  there  to  receive  him.  However,  with 
an  effort  he  recovered  his  gravity,  mounted  the  short  accom- 
modation ladder,  saluted  the  flag,  and  returned  the  salutes  of 
his  officers  and  men.  On  board  the  frigate  he  had  been  an 
inconsiderable  member  of  the  crowd,  now  he  was  monarch  of 
all  he  surveyed.  Then  the  crew  were  formed  up,  and  accord- 
ing to  custom  he  read  his  commission  appointing  him  to  the 
command,  and  the  articles  of  war. 

"  Now,  my  men,"  he  said  when  he  had  brought  the  meeting 
to  an  end,  "  I  have,  according  to  rule,  read  the  articles  of  war, 


202  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

a  very  necessary  step  when  taking  command  of  a  vessel  of 
war  with  hands  collected  from  all  parts,  and  many  of  them 
coming  on  board  one  of  his  majesty's  ships  for  the  first  time ; 
but  it  is  a  mere  formality  to  a  crew  composed  of  men  like 
yourselves,  who  will,  I  am  perfectly  sure,  do  your  duty  in 
storm  and  calm,  and  who  will,  should  there  be  any  occasion 
for  fighting,  show  that,  small  as  our  number  is,  we  are  capable 
of  taking  our  own  part  against  a  considerably  larger  force.  I 
and  my  officers,  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  make  the  ship 
a  comfortable  and  pleasant  one,  and  I  rely  upon  you  to  show 
your  zeal  and  heartiness  in  the  service." 

The  men  replied  with  a  hearty  cheer.  Most  of  them  be- 
longed to  the  Orpheus.  These  had  already  told  the  others  of 
their  captain's  doings  in  Hayti  and  in  the  attack  on  the  pirate 
island,  and  said  how  popular  he  was  on  board. 

"I  think  we  are  going  to  have  a  good  time,"  one  of  the 
others  said  as  they  went  forward.  "  We  ain't  likely  to  capture 
anything  very  big  in  this  cockle-shell,  and  I  look  upon  it  as  a 
sort  of  pleasure  ship." 

"  You  will  see,  if  he  gets  a  chance  he  will  take  it,"  one  of 
the  men  from  the  Orpheus  said.  "I  was  with  him  in  that 
fight  against  the  pirates,  and  I  tell  you  I  have  never  been  in 
anything  hotter.  I  was  one  of  those  who  volunteered  to  go 
with  him  to  drown  the  magazine  of  the  brigantine  next  to  us, 
and  I  tell  you  I  never  felt  so  scared  in  my  life.  He  was  just  as 
cool  as  a  cucumber,  though  he  had  been  knocked  silly  by  that 
explosion  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before.  He  is  the  right  sort, 
he  is;  and  though  I  expect  he  has  got  orders  not  to  tackle 
anything  too  big  for  us  —  he  is  not  the  sort  of  chap  to  run  away 
if  he  can  find  the  smallest  excuse  for  fighting." 

In  the  meantime  Nat  had  gone  below  with  the  two  mid- 
shipmen. The  accommodation  for  officers  was  excellent. 
There  was  a  large  cabin  aft  which  had  been  handsomely  fitted 


A   FIRST  COMMAND 

up  by  the  late  captain.  Off  this  on  one  side  was  his  state- 
room, on  the  other  those  for  the  two  officers ;  beyond  these 
were  the  steward's  cabin  and  pantry  on  one  side,  and  a  spare 
cabin  which  had  been  given  to  the  quarter-master  on  the  other. 
Nat  had  engaged  a  negro  as  cook,  and  his  son,  a  lad  of  seven- 
teen or  eighteen,  as  cabin  steward,  and  had  sent  on  board  a 
small  stock  of  wines.  He  ordered  the  boy  to  open  a  bottle 
and  to  put  glasses  on  the  table,  and  they  drank  together  to 
the  success  of  the  cruise.  They  had  just  finished  when  the 
quarter-master  came  down. 

"The  admiral  is  signalling  for  us  to  send  a  boat  to  him, 
sir." 

"  Lower  the  gig  at  once  ! "  and  he  and  the  officers  followed 
the  quarter-master  on  deck.  "  Mr.  Lippincott,  you  had  better 
go  with  it." 

In  half  an  hour  the  midshipman  returned  with  a  despatch. 
Nat  broke  the  seal.  It  had  evidently  been  dictated  by  the 
admiral  to  his  clerk,  his  signature  being  at  the  foot. 

News  has  just  arrived  that  the  French  Assembly  has  cancelled 
the  act  placing  the  mulattoes  on  the  same  footing  as  the  whites, 
and  the  former  have  in  consequence  risen  and  have  joined  the 
blacks.  The  situation  must  be  most  precarious  for  whites  in  the 
island.  Get  up  sail  at  once  and  make  for  Cape  Francois. 
Cruise  between  that  port  and  the  south-eastern  limit  of  Hayti. 
Do  what  you  can  to  aid  fugitives. 

"We  are  to  be  off  at  once,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Turnbull. 
"  Please  get  up  the  anchor  and  make  sail.  There  is  fresh 
trouble  in  Hayti ;  the  mulattoes  have  joined  the  blacks." 

The  quarter-master's  whistle  sounded,  and  the  crew  sprang 
into  activity.  The  capstan  was  manned,  and  the  men  ran  to 
loosen  the  sails,  and  in  ten  minutes  the  Falcon  was  on  her 
way. 


264  A   fcOVTNG  COMMISSION 

"  Matters  were  bad  enough  before,"  Nat  said  when,  having 
seen  that  the  sails  were  all  set  and  everything  in  good  order, 
his  two  officers  came  aft.  "  A  few  mulattoes,  overseers  and 
that  class,  rose  with  the  negroes,  but  the  great  bulk  of  them, 
having  got  what  they  wanted,  joined  the  whites  or  stood 
neutral ;  but  now  that  they  have  thrown  in  their  lot  with  the 
blacks  the  prospect  seems  almost  desperate.  However  it 
turns  out,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  island  is  ruined,  and 
the  whites  who  were  lucky  enough  to  escape  with  their  lives 
will  find  that  instead  of  being  rich  men  they  are  penniless. 
It  is  a  horrible  business  altogether.  I  shall  be  glad  when 
we  get  to  Cape  Frangois  and  can  get  news  of  what  is  really 
going  on." 

Nat  was  delighted  at  the  speed  shown  by  the  schooner. 
The  breeze  was  light,  and  she  felt  the  full  advantage  of  her 
added  spread  of  canvas.  She  was  a  very  beamy  craft  of  light 
draught,  and  scarcely  showed  a  perceptible  heel  under  the 
pressure  of  the  wind,  fully  justifying  his  opinion  as  to  the 
improvement  to  be  effected  by  the  substitution  of  iron  ballast 
for  that  which  she  had  before  carried.  Turnbull  and  Lippincott 
were  no  less  pleased,  and  the  whole  crew  felt  proud  of  their 
little  craft. 

"  She  can  go,  sir,  and  no  mistake  !  "  Turnbull  said,  as  they 
stood  aft  looking  upwards  at  the  sails  and  down  into  the  water 
glancing  past  her  sides.  "  It  would  take  a  fast  craft  indeed  to 
overhaul  her ;  her  sails  are  splendidly  cut !  " 

"  Yes,  I  tipped  the  man  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  sail-making 
gang  a  five-pound  note  to  take  special  pains  with  them,  and  the 
money  would  have  been  well  laid  out  if  it  had  been  fifty  times 
as  much ;  for  it  will  make  the  difference  of  a  point  at  least  when 
she  is  close-hauled,  and  that  means  getting  away  from  a  fellow 
too  big  for  us,  instead  of  being  overhauled  by  him." 

"Yes,"  Turnbull  said  with  a  smile,  "and  might  enable  us 


A   FIRST  COMMAND  205 

to  keep  out  of  reach  of  his  bow-guns,  while  we  hammered  him 
with  our  stern-chaser." 

"Yes,  it  might  have  that  effect,"  Nat  replied  with  an  an- 
swering smile.  "  What  is  she  going  through  the  water  now, 
quarter-master?  " 

"  A  good  seven  knots,  sir." 

"  That  is  fast  enough.  The  Orpheus  would  not  be  making 
more  than  six  in  such  a  light  breeze  as  this." 

Towards  sunset  the  wind  fell  until  it  scarcely  seemed  that 
there  was  a  breath  on  the  water,  but  the  schooner  still  crept 
along  at  two  and  a  half  knots  an  hour,  although  her  sails 
scarcely  lifted.  The  crew  had  already  been  divided  in  watches. 
Turnbull  took  the  starboard,  and  Lippincott  the  larboard 
watch. 

"  I  hardly  know  myself,"  Nat  laughed,  as  they  sat  together 
in  the  cabin  after  dinner.  "  Except  when  I  was  on  the  sick 
list,  this  is  my  first  experience  of  not  having  a  night  watch 
to  keep.  However,  I  expect  I  shall  be  up  and  down,  and  at 
any  rate  call  me  if  there  is  the  slightest  change  in  the  weather. 
We  know  what  she  can  do  in  a  light  wind  now,  but  we  won't 
risk  anything  until  we  have  seen  how  she  carries  her  sails  in  a 
sharp  blow." 

Somewhat  restless  under  the  extent  of  his  responsibility, 
Nat  was  on  deck  several  times  during  the  night.  There  was, 
however,  no  sign  of  change.  The  Arrow  was  still  stealing 
through  the  water  with  the  wind  abeam.  The  two  midship- 
men, equally  impressed  with  the  responsibility  of  being  in  com- 
mand of  a  watch,  were  on  the  alert,  and  the  look-out  was  vigilant. 
The  wind  freshened  again  when  the  sun  rose.  At  noon  there 
were  white-heads  on  the  water,  and  the  schooner,  heeling  over 
a  bit  now,  was  doing  nearly  nine  knots.  The  three  officers 
all  took  an  observation,  and  to  their  satisfaction  found  that 
they  were  within  half  a  mile  of  each  other.  At  the  present 


206  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

moment,  however,  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  their  situation,  for 
the  high  land  near  Cape  Dame  Marie  lay  clearly  in  sight  over 
the  bowsprit,  while  behind  them  the  hills  over  Morant  Point 
lay  like  a  dim  haze. 

"  If  we  had  had  this  wind  the  whole  way,"  Nat  said  regret- 
fully, "we  should  have  been  well  in  the  bay  by  this  time. 
Still,  we  must  not  grumble;  we  have  made  a  hundred  knots. 
The  mid-day  gun  fired  just  as  we  got  under  way,  and,  consider- 
ing that  for  twelve  hours  we  had  no  wind  worth  speaking 
of,  I  think  we  have  done  very  well.  Indeed,  if  the  wind  will 
hold  like  this,  we  shall  be  near  port  by  noon  to-morrow ;  but 
we  can't  reckon  on  that,  it  is  sure  to  fall  before  sunset,  and 
besides,  the  winds  are  generally  baffling  and  shifty  when  we 
once  get  into  the  bay." 

By  three  o'clock  the  wind  had  already  begun  to  fall,  and  by 
five  they  were  lying  almost  becalmed  off  the  westerly  point  of 
the  island.  For  the  next  two  days  the  wind  was  very  light,  and 
it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  when  they  dropped 
anchor  off  Cape  Francois.  Nat  at  once  went  ashore,  and  as 
usual  received  a  warm  welcome  from  the  Duchesnes.  Madame 
had  now  quite  recovered  from  the  effect  of  her  adventure,  as 
also  had  Myra. 

"  I  did  not  know  that  the  Orpheus  was  in  port,  or  else  we 
should  have  been  expecting  you." 

"She  is  not  in  port,  madame.  I  arrived  in  his  majesty's 
schooner  Arrow,  which  I  have  the  honour  to  command." 

"Then  you  are  Captain  Glover  now?  I  must  be  very 
respectful,"  and  Myra  made  a  deep  curtsy. 

"  It  will  be  a  good  many  years  before  I  shall  have  the  right 
to  be  addressed  by  that  title.  I  have  passed  my  examination 
as  lieutenant,  and  have  now  acting  rank,  which  will  no  doubt  be 
confirmed  by  the  authorities  at  home,  and  I  may  be  addressed 
as  lieutenant  without  any  breach  of  etiquette.  Still,  of  course, 


A  FIRST   COMMAND  207 

it  is  a  grand  thing  to  get  a  command,  and  so  much  greater 
chance  of  distinguishing  oneself.  However,  as  she  is  but  a 
small  craft,  and  carries  only  twenty-five  men,  we  are  not  in  a 
position  to  do  any  great  thing  in  the  way  of  fighting,  though 
of  course  we  may  overhaul  and  capture  some  of  these  native 
craft  that  are  nominally  traders,  but  are  ready  to  capture  any 
small  vessel  they  may  come  across.  My  mission  really  is 
to  obtain  news  of  what  is  passing  in  the  island.  We  have 
received  word  at  Kingston  that  the  mulattoes  have  risen  and 
joined  the  blacks,  and  I  have  been  sent  off  at  once  to  learn  the 
real  state  of  things." 

"Unhappily  the  news  is  true,"  Monsieur  Duchesne  said. 
"There  have  already  been  several  fights,  in  some  of  which  we 
have  got  the  best  of  it,  in  others  we  have  been  driven  back  to 
the  towns.  It  is  impossible  for  the  look-out  to  be  darker  than 
it  is.  It  seems  to  us  that  our  only  hope  is  that  England  will 
consent  to  take  over  the  sovereignty  of  the  island,  and  send 
a  force  large  enough  to  put  down  the  insurrection.  Some  of 
the  planters  here  have  already  lost  heart,  and  have  sailed  for 
Jamaica,  Bermuda,  and  other  British  ports.  I  have  no  inten- 
tion of  following  their  example  at  present.  I  am,  as  you  know, 
a  merchant  as  well  as  a  planter,  and  although,  of  course,  all 
trade  is  at  an  end  now,  it  must  spring  up  again  in  time. 
Fortunately,  we  feel  confident  that  this  town  can  resist  any 
assault.  The  French  man-of-war  that  came  in  after  you  sailed 
landed  a  dozen  of  her  guns,  and  we  have  erected  four  bat- 
teries. There  were,  too,  a  good  many  old  guns  in  the  town, 
which  have  also  been  put  into  position ;  and  as  we  have  half 
a  French  regiment  here,  and  fully  five  hundred  whites  who  can 
be  relied  on,  we  have  small  fear  of  being  overpowered.  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  before  the  man-of-war  left,  the  great  majority 
of  the  negroes  were  expelled  from  the  town  and  their  quarter 
burnt  down,  so  that  we  have  no  fear  of  being  attacked  from 


208  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

within  as  well  as  from  without.  That  was  really  our  greatest 
danger,  and  has  been  hanging  over  us  night  and  day  ever  since 
the  beginning  of  the  rising." 

"Are  the  mulattoes  and  negroes  acting  together?" 

"  In  some  cases,  but  as  a  rule  they  keep  apart.  There  is  no 
love  lost  between  them,  and  the  only  bond  of  union  is  hatred 
of  us.  The  blacks,  curiously  enough,  have  declared  against 
the  republic,  and  call  themselves  the  royalist  army.  They 
consider,  and  very  naturally,  that  the  republic,  while  giving 
rights  to  the  mulattoes,  has  done  nothing  for  them,  and  there- 
fore, as  the  republic  has  declared  against  the  king,  they  have 
declared  for  him.  Do  you  think  that  the  English  government 
will  accept  our  offer  to  transfer  ourselves  to  British  rule  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  see  that  they  could  do  so,  sir.  At  present  we  are 
nominally  at  peace  with  France,  although  everyone  sees  that 
war  must  come  before  long,  but  until  it  is  declared  we  could 
scarcely  take  over  a  French  possession ;  nor  do  I  think  there  are 
anything  like  troops  enough  in  our  islands  to  undertake  such 
a  serious  operation  as  this  would  be.  Your  people  could  not 
give  us  much  help.  The  negroes,  though  calling  themselves 
royalists,  are  fighting  only  for  liberty,  and  would  gain  nothing 
by  a  mere  change  of  masters,  knowing  as  they  do  that  the 
slaves  are  certainly  no  better  treated  in  our  islands  than  in 
those  of  France." 

"  That  is  what  I  thought,"  Monsieur  Duchesne  said.  "  Cer- 
tainly nothing  short  of  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  strong 
could  hope  for  success,  and  I  doubt,  indeed,  whether  in  so 
large  and  mountainous  an  island  even  that  number  could 
do  much.  Of  course  fully  half  of  it  is  Spanish,  which  com- 
plicates matters  a  great  deal ;  but  we  may  be  sure  that  if  the 
negroes  of  this  end  are  successful,  those  under  the  Spaniards 
will  very  soon  follow  their  example.  If  the  worst  comes  to 
the  worst,  I  shall  of  course  leave  the  island.  Whether  I  should 


A   FIRST   COMMAND  209 

settle  in  one  of  your  islands  or  make  England  my  residence 
I  cannot  say.  Some  of  my  countrymen  have  gone  to  America, 
but  I  should  put  that  out  of  my  mind.  I  think  I  should 
prefer  England  to  remaining  out  here,  for  there  might  be 
similar  risings  in  Jamaica  and  elsewhere;  as  to  France,  it  is 
out  of  the  question. 

"  France  has  gone  mad.  I  know  that  many  of  our  good 
families  have  sought  refuge  in  England,  and  we  should  at  least 
find  society  congenial  to  us.  Happily,  we  are  in  a  condition 
to  choose  for  ourselves ;  my  ancestors  have  been  wise  men,  and 
have  long  foreseen  that  what  has  actually  occurred  might  pos- 
sibly take  place.  Each  in  succession  has  impressed  his  views 
upon  his  son,  and  it  has  become  almost  a  family  tradition 
among  us,  and  one  upon  which  we  have  often  been  rallied.  For 
with  few  exceptions  all  here  seem  to  have  regarded  the  state 
of  things  as  being  as  unchangeable  as  Scripture  says  were  the 
laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  If  this  had  been  only  a 
tradition,  and  had  not  been  acted  upon,  it  would  not  have 
benefited  us  now,  but  for  six  generations  each  of  my  ancestors 
has  regarded  it  as  a  sacred  duty  to  set  aside  nearly  a  tenth  of 
his  revenues  as  a  provision  when  the  troubles  should  come. 
This  money  has  been  chiefly  invested  in  England  and  Holland, 
and  the  interest  on  the  accumulations  of  all  these  years  has 
been  reinvested.  I  believe  that,  although  I  regard  such  in- 
vestments as  were  made  in  France  as  lost,  we  shall,  when  we 
reckon  up  matters,  find  that  our  income  will  be  fully  as  large 
as  that  which  I  have  drawn  from  my  property  and  trade  here." 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,  Monsieur  Duchesne.  I  have 
indeed,  while  I  have  been  away,  thought  very  often  of  what 
would  happen  to  you  and  your  family  if  you  were  forced  to 
finally  abandon  your  estate  and  leave  the  island." 

"  I  have  reason  to  be  grateful  indeed,  Nat,  to  the  fore- 
thought of  those  who  have  gone  before  me ;  it  is  strange  that 


210  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

the  same  idea  did  not  occur  to  others.  One  can  see  now  that 
our  people  here  have  been  living  in  a  fool's  paradise,  totally 
oblivious  of  the  fact  that  a  volcano  might  at  any  moment  open 
under  their  feet.  Are  you  going  to  remain  here  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  !  I  am  only  making  this  a  starting-place.  My  orders 
are  to  cruise  along  the  southern  coast,  to  render  any  assistance 
I  can  to  the  refugees,  and  if  possible,  to  open  communica- 
tions with  some  of  the  chiefs  of  the  insurgents  and  endeavour 
to  find  out  what  their  plans  are,  and,  should  it  be  decided  to 
accept  the  cession  of  the  island  when  war  with  France  breaks 
out,  what  the  attitude  of  the  blacks  and  mulattoes  would  be." 

"You  will  not  be  likely  to  pick  up  any  refugees,  for  the 
whites  are  exterminated  except  in  the  towns ;  but  should  any 
of  the  smaller  places  be  attacked  you  might  render  good  ser- 
vice by  receiving  at  least  the  women  and  children  on  board." 

That  evening  Monsieur  Duchesne  asked  his  brother-in-law, 
the  doctor,  and  several  other  leading  inhabitants,  to  his  house, 
in  order  that  Nat  might  gather  their  vkws.  He  found  that 
these  in  the  main  agreed  with  those  of  his  host,  except  that 
they  were  hopeful  that  France  would,  as  soon  as  the  news 
arrived,  despatch  an  army  of  sufficient  force  to  put  down 
the  insurrection.  After  the  last  of  the  guests  had  departed, 
Monsieur  Duchesne  shook  his  head. 

"France  will  ere  long  require  every  soldier  to  defend  her 
own  frontiers;  the  saturnalia  of  blood  in  which  she  is  in- 
dulging will  cause  her  to  be  regarded  as  the  common  enemy 
of  Europe.  I  hear  that  already  the  emigrant  nobles  are 
pressing  the  various  European  courts  to  march  armies  into 
France  to  free  the  king  and  royal  family  from  their  imprison- 
ment by  the  mob  of  Paris,  and  ere  long  there  will  assuredly  be 
a  coalition  which  France  will  need  all  her  strength  to  resist. 
England  is  certain  to  join  it ;  and  even  had  France  troops  to 
spare,  she  would  find  a  difficulty  in  sending  them  here. 


A   RESCUE  211 

So  you  will  not  change  your  mind  and  stay  with  us  for  the 
night?" 

"It  is  already  nearly  eleven,  and  I  ordered  the  gig  to  be 
alongside  at  that  hour.  I  certainly  should  not  like  to  sleep 
out  of  the  ship,  though  I  have  no  doubt  that  my  two  young 
officers  would  see  that  everything  went  on  right." 

On  reaching  the  schooner,  Nat  found  that  both  Turnbull  and 
Lippincott  were  still  up. 

"  It  was  such  a  lovely  night  that  we  have  been  smoking  on 
deck  until  a  few  minutes  ago  j  we  were,  of  course,  anxious  to 
hear  the  news." 

At  Nat's  order  the  steward  brought  hot  water  and  glasses ; 
three  tumblers  of  grog  were  filled,  and  they  sat  for  a  couple  of 
hours  discussing  the  strange  situation  in  the  island. 


CHAPTER  XII 

A   RESCUE 

Arrow  was  one  morning  lying  at  anchor  in  a  small  bay 
.L      on  the  south  coast,  when  one  of  the  sailors  called  Nat's 
attention  to  a  boy  who  had  run  down  and  was  wildly  waving  his 
arms.     Nat  caught  up  his  telescope. 

"  It  may  be  a  white  boy,"  he  said.  "  Lower  the  gig !  I  will 
go  myself  in  her.  Quick  !  he  may  be  pursued." 

It  took  but  a  very  short  time  to  cross  the  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  water.  The  lad  rushed  in  up  to  his  chin  to  meet  them,  and 
was  quickly  hauled  into  the  boat.  His  hands  and  face  had 
been  blackened,  but  this  had  so  worn  off  that  he  merely  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  a  sooty-faced  white  boy.  He  burst 
into  a  fit  of  convulsive  sobbing  as  he  found  himself  among 
friends.  Nat  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  question  him  at  the 


212  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

moment,  so  he  told  the  men  to  row  back  at  once  to  the 
schooner ;  then  he  half-carried  him  down  to  his  own  cabin, 
brought  out  a  glass  of  wine,  and  gave  it  to  him. 

"  Drink  that  up,  lad,"  he  said,  "  then  you  can  tell  me  some- 
thing about  yourself."  The  boy  put  the  glass  with  shaking 
hands  to  his  lips  and  drank  it  down. 

"  That  is  right,  lad ;  now  tell  me  something  about  yourself. 
What  is  your  name?" 

"  I  am  a  girl,  monsieur ;  my  name  is  Louise  Pickard.  We 
have  been  hiding  in  the  forest  for  six  weeks  —  my  father  and 
mother,  my  sister,  and  ten  Frenchmen,  who  worked  for  us. 
We  lived  on  fruit  and  what  provisions  the  men  could  obtain 
by  going  down  to  the  plantations  at  night.  Two  days  ago  the 
negroes  found  us ;  they  killed  one  of  the  men  at  once,  and 
the  rest  of  us  they  took.  My  sister  and  I  were  dressed  as 
boys.  They  were  going  to  kill  us  one  by  one ;  they  burnt  one 
of  the  men  to  death  yesterday,  and  tied  us  to  trees  round  and 
made  us  look  on.  This  morning  they  killed  another ;  they  cut 
off  his  arms  at  the  elbows  and  his  legs  at  the  knees,  and  then 
cut  him  about  with  knives  till  he  died.  Then  they  shut  us  up 
together  again.  There  was  a  little  window,  and  my  father 
pushed  me  through  it.  He  had  heard  the  negroes  say  that  there 
was  a  vessel  in  the  bay  with  white  men  in  it.  The  hole  was 
in  the  back  of  the  house,  and  there  were  trees  there,  so  that  I 
managed  to  get  off  without  being  seen  by  the  negroes.  My 
father  tried  to  get  Valerie  through  the  same  window,  but  she 
was  too  big.  She  is  two  years  older  than  I  am,  and  I  could 
not  have  squeezed  through  had  not  my  father  pushed  me.  He 
told  me  to  come  down  to  the  shore  and  take  refuge  with  you." 

"  How  many  of  these  black  scoundrels  are  there?"  Nat  asked. 

"  Two  or  three  hundred.  The  negroes  are  going  to  attack 
you  to-night  —  there  are  some  fishermen's  boats  at  a  village  a 
mile  or  two  along  the  shore.  Father  told  me  to  warn  you.  I 


THE    RESCUE   OF    LOUISE    PICKARD. 


A   RESCUE  213 

did  not  like  coming  away,  I  would  have  liked  to  have  died 
with  the  others ;  but  it  was  so  awful  to  look  on  at  the  tortures. 
If  they  would  but  have  killed  us  at  once,  I  would  not  have 
minded ;  but  oh,  monsieur,  it  was  too  terrible !  Can  you  not 
do  something  for  them  ?  "  And  she  again  burst  into  tears. 

"  I  will  see  what  can  be  done,"  Nat  said,  putting  his  hand 
kindly  on  her  shoulder.  "  I  am  going  up  on  deck  now.  This 
is  my  cabin,"  and  he  opened  the  door  of  his  berth.  "The 
steward  will  bring  you  some  hot  water,  then  you  had  better 
have  a  wash  and  get  rid  of  that  charcoal,  for  I  suppose  it  is 
charcoal  on  your  face.  We  can  do  nothing  for  you  in  the 
way  of  dress  at  present.  But  if  you  will  take  off  your  things 
and  put  them  outside  the  door,  I  will  get  them  washed  at  once, 
and  you  can  lie  down  in  my  berth  until  they  are  dry.  They 
won't  take  very  long  in  this  hot  climate." 

The  steward  by  his  orders  brought  in  a  can  of  hot  water. 
The  girl  retired  with  it  to  the  cabin,  and  Nat  went  on  deck  and 
told  Turnbull  and  Lippincott  what  he  had  heard  from  her. 

"  It  is  awful,"  the  latter  said.     "Can  we  do  nothing,  sir?" 

"  That  is  the  point,  Mr.  Lippincott.  I  feel  that  it  is  impos- 
sible for  us  to  remain  quiet  while  such  devilry  is  being  carried 
on  among  those  woods.  But  you  see  the  matter  is  rendered 
all  the  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  we  ourselves  are  going  to 
be  attacked  to-night.  Our  crew  is  weak  enough  already.  If 
three  or  four  boat-loads  full  of  blacks  were  to  fall  upon  us,  we 
could  not  spare  a  man ;  while  if  we  were  to  land,  we  should 
need  every  man  for  the  job,  and  even  then  should  be  terribly 
weak.  Something  has  to  be  done,  that  is  evident,  and  we  have 
to  hit  upon  a  plan.  Now,  let  us  all  set  our  wits  to  work." 
At  this  moment  the  black  steward  came  up  from  the  cabin 
with  a  bundle. 

"  The  boy  am  put  dese  things  outside  him  door,  sah.  Wat 
am  me  to  do  wid  dem?" 


214  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"Bring  them  along  to  the  galley,  Sara.  I  must  get  your 
father  to  wash  them.  Pomp,"  he  went  on  to  the  cook,  "  have 
you  got  plenty  of  hot  water?  " 

"  Yes,  sah ;  allus  hab  hot  water." 

"  Well,  look  here,  I  want  you  and  Sam  to  set  to  work  and 
wash  these  clothes  at  once.  The  boy  I  brought  on  board 
turns  out  to  be  a  French  girl,  the  daughter  of  a  planter  who 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  negroes  up  there.  We  must  see  to- 
morrow what  we  can  do  in  the  way  of  rigging  her  out  prop- 
erly, but  for  to-day  we  must  manage  with  these  things.  Get 
them  as  white  as  you  can,  and  then  hang  them  up  to  dry.  I 
want  her  on  deck  again  as  soon  as  possible  to  give  us  informa- 
tion as  to  where  her  friends  are  confined." 

"  All  right,  sah,  we  soon  gets  dese  clean." 

"And  you  may  as  well  heat  up  a  basin  of  that  turtle-soup 
we  had  yesterday.  I  expect  she  has  had  little  enough  to  eat 
of  late." 

Then  he  went  back  to  the  quarter-deck. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  sir,"  Turnbull  said,  "  that  if  the  girl  would 
go  ashore  with  us  as  a  guide,  we  might  succeed.  After  it  gets 
dark,  put  me  and  one  of  the  hands  on  shore,  with  a  saw  and  a 
bottle  of  oil  to  make  it  work  noiselessly.  Then  we  could 
crawl  up  to  this  little  window  by  which  she  got  out,  and  cut 
away  the  wood  —  for  no  doubt  it  is  a  wooden  hut  —  till  the  hole 
is  large  enough  for  all  of  them  to  get  out." 

"  That  seems  a  good  plan,  Turnbull,  certainly ;  the  only 
drawback  is  that  probably  before  it  gets  dark  the  negroes  will 
have  discovered  that  the  boy,  as  they  consider  her,  has  escaped, 
and  will  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  the  others.  Then,  too,  al- 
though one  or  two  might  get  out  noiselessly  and  make  their 
escape,  the  chances  of  ten  people  doing  so  would  be  much 
smaller,  and  if  the  attempt  were  detected  you  might  only  share 
their  fate.  If  we  had  all  the  crew  close  at  hand  to  cover  their 


A   RESCUE  215 

retreat  it  might  be  managed,  great  as  would  be  the  odds 
against  us,  but  you  see  there  is  this  boat  attack  to  be  guarded 
against.  I  don't  think  that  I  could  allow  you  to  run  such  a 
risk,  Turnbull." 

"  Still,  something  must  be  done,  sir." 

"  Yes,  we  are  agreed  as  to  that,"  Nat  said,  and  going  to  the 
rail  he  stood  there  gazing  at  the  shore  for  some  minutes. 

"  I  have  an  idea,"  he  said,  suddenly  turning  round.  "You 
see  that  point  near  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  where  the  rock  rises 
eight  or  ten  feet  straight  out  from  the  water's  edge ;  there  are 
trees  behind  it.  It  will  be  a  dark  night,  and  if  we  could  get 
the  schooner  over  there  without  their  noticing  it,  as  I  think 
we  could,  we  could  probably  lay  her  pretty  close  alongside, 
and  when  the  boats  came,  the  betting  is  that  they  would  never 
find  her.  They  would  row  about  for  a  bit  looking  for  us 
where  we  are  anchored,  and,  not  finding  us,  would  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  we  had  got  up  sail  and  gone  away  after 
dark.  In  that  way  we  could  land  our  whole  party." 

"  I  think  that  would  do  first-rate,  sir." 

"  Of  course  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  risk  of  their  dis- 
covering her,"  Nat  went  on,  "  but  we  must  chance  that.  We 
will  send  her  topmasts  down  as  soon  as  it  is  dark,  so  that 
they  won't  show  against  the  sky-line,  and  boats  might  then  row 
within  twenty  yards  of  her  without  noticing  her,  especially  if 
we  can  get  her  in  pretty  close.  It  is  just  possible  that  we 
may  be  able  to  lay  her  right  against  the  rock.  The  water  is 
deep  pretty  close  in,  even  opposite  to  us,  for  the  girl  was  not 
more  than  four  or  five  yards  from  the  shore  when  she  was  up 
to  her  neck  in  water,  and  no  doubt  it  is  a  good  deal  deeper 
than  that,  at  the  foot  of  those  rocks.  As  soon  as  it  is  dark, 
Mr.  Lippincott,  you  had  better  take  the  boat  and  sound  along 
there.  Of  course  you  will  muffle  your  oars.  It  would  be  a 
great  thing  if  we  could  get  alongside.  In  the  first  place,  the 


216  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

nearer  she  gets  in  the  less  likely  that  she  would  be  to  be 
seen,  and  in  the  next  place  it  would  be  very  important,  if  we 
are  hotly  pursued,  to  be  able  to  get  on  board  without  having 
to  use  boats." 

"  Certainly,"  Turnbull  agreed. 

"  When  we  have  got  her  in  her  place,"  Nat  went  on,  "  we 
will  take  a  light  anchor  out  fifty  fathom  or  so,  and  put  the 
hawser  round  the  windlass,  so  that  the  instant  we  are  on 
board,  four  men,  told  off  beforehand,  can  run  forward  and  set 
to  work.  Once  we  are  three  yards  out  we  should  be  safe  from 
boarding,  however  strong  their  force  may  be.  We  will  have 
the  guns  on  that  side  loaded  with  a  double  charge  of  grape 
before  we  land,  and  once  out  we  will  give  them  a  dose  they 
will  remember  for  a  long  time.  Now,  we  may  as  well  tell  the 
crew  ;  they  will  be  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  fight." 

The  men  were  clustered  together  forward  discussing  whether 
anything  was  likely  to  take  place,  for  the  arrival  of  the  boy, 
the  fact  that  he  had  been  taken  down  to  the  cabin  aft  and 
had  not  reappeared,  and  the  evident  anxiety  of  their  officers, 
sufficed  to  show  them  that  something  unusual  was  on  hand. 
When  they  came  aft  Nat  said,  "  My  men,  we  are  about  to 
undertake  an  enterprise  that  will,  I  am  sure,  be  after  your  own 
heart.  The  apparent  boy  we  brought  on  board  is  a  young 
French  lady.  Her  parents,  sister,  and  seven  white  men  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  negroes,  who  each  day  murder  one  with 
horrible  torture.  Now  we  are  going  to  rescue  them." 

A  cheer  broke  from  the  men. 

"The  job  will  be  a  pretty  tough  one,  men,  but  you  won't 
like  it  any  the  worse  for  that.  There  are,  I  hear,  two  or 
three  hundred  of  those  murderous  brutes  up  there.  Of  course, 
if  we  can  get  the  prisoners  out  without  a  fight  we  shall  do 
so,  but  I  hardly  think  we  shall  be  able  to  manage  that.  The 
matter  is  somewhat  complicated  by  the  fact  that  I  hearjhat  a 


A   RESCUE  217 

boat  attack  is  going  to  be  made  upon  us  to-night.  Now,  we 
are  certainly  not  strong  enough  to  carry  off  this  party  and  at 
the  same  time  to  leave  enough  men  on  board  to  defend  the 
schooner.  After  it  is  dark,  therefore,  I  intend  to  take  her 
across  to  that  rock  over  there,  moor  her  as  close  to  it  as  I  can, 
and  strike  the  topmasts.  In  that  way  we  may  hope  that  on  a 
moonless  night,  as  this  will  be,  the  boats  will  not  find  her,  but 
will  suppose  that  we  have  sailed  away.  However,  of  that  we 
must  run  the  risk.  I  shall  take  every  man  with  me.  Of  course, 
we  shall  batten  the  hatches  down,  and  fasten  them  so  that  if 
they  do  find  her  it  will  give  them  as  much  trouble  as  possible, 
and  we  may  possibly  catch  them  at  work  as  we  return. 

"You  will,  of  course,  take  muskets  and  a  brace  of  pistols 
each,  and  your  cutlasses.  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  are  being 
watched  from  the  shore,  therefore  go  about  your  work  as 
usual.  Do  not  gather  together  talking,  or  give  them  any 
cause  to  suppose  that  we  are  intending  to  do  anything.  It  is 
not  likely  that  the  escape  of  the  girl  has  yet  been  discovered, 
for  if  they  were  watching  among  the  trees  up  there  they  would 
hardly  have  noticed  that  the  boat  took  an  extra  person  from 
the  shore.  Grease  the  falls  of  the  gig,  so  that  she  can  be 
lowered  noiselessly,  and  muffle  the  oars.  As  soon  as  it  is  quite 
dark  Mr.  Lippincott  will  take  soundings,  in  order  to  see  how 
close  into  the  rock  it  will  be  safe  to  take  her." 

With  another  low  but  hearty  cheer,  expressing  the  satis- 
faction they  felt  at  the  prospect  of  a  fight  with  the  negroes,  the 
crew  went  forward  again.  One  of  them  set  to  work  to  grease 
the  falls  not  only  of  the  gig  but  of  the  other  boats,  in  case  these 
should  also  be  required,  two  others  cut  up  some  old  guernseys 
and  lashed  them  round  the  gig's  oars  at  the  point  where  they 
would  touch  the  thole-pins,  others  resumed  their  occupation 
of  polishing  the  brass-work,  while  the  rest  sat  down  under  the 
shelter  of  the  bulwark  and  talked  over  the  adventure  on  which 


218  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

they  were  about  to  engage.  In  an  hour  the  girl's  clothes  were 
washed  and  dried.  One  of  the  crew  who  had  served  as  an 
assistant  sail-maker  had  at  once,  under  Nat's  instructions,  set 
to  work  to  sew  half  a  dozen  flags  together,  and  with  these  he 
had  constructed  a  garment  which,  if  primitive  in  design,  was 
at  least  somewhat  feminine  in  appearance. 

Round  the  top  was  a  deep  hem  through  which  was  run  a 
thin  cord.  By  the  aid  of  this  it  could  be  drawn  together  and 
gathered  in  at  the  neck.  Six  inches  from  the  top,  two  of 
the  seams  between  the  flags  were  left  open,  these  were  for  the 
arm-holes.  This  primitive  pinafore  was  to  be  drawn  in  at  the 
waist  by  a  belt.  The  man  had  chosen  from  among  the  signal 
flags  those  whose  colours  went  best  together,  and  though  the 
result  was  extremely  motley,  it  was  yet  a  very  fair  substitute 
for  a  dress.  The  three  officers  could  not  help  laughing  as  he 
brought  it  aft  to  show  them. 

"  That  is  very  well  contrived,  Jenkins,"  Nat  said.  "  I  have 
no  doubt  the  young  lady  will  greatly  prefer  it  to  going  about 
dressed  as  a  boy." 

As  the  clothes  were  by  this  time  dry,  Nat  told  Sam  to  take 
them  below  with  the  new  garment,  to  lay  them  down  outside 
his  state-room  door,  and  then  to  knock  and  tell  the  young  lady 
that  they  were  there  in  readiness  for  her,  and^  that  as  soon  as 
she  was  dressed  lunch  would  be  ready.  When  he  had  done 
this  he  was  to  come  up  on  deck  again.  A  quarter  of  an  hour 
later  Nat  himself  went  down.  The  clothes  had  disappeared, 
and  the  girl,  who  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  came  out. 
She  had,  with  the  exception  of  the  coat,  donned  her  former 
garments,  and  over  these  had  put  the  flag  pinafore.  Her 
arms  were  covered  by  those  of  the  light  flannel  shirt,  and  the 
dress  hung  straight  down  all  round. 

"  It  is  a  queer-looking  thing,"  he  said  with  a  smile,  "  but  it 
is  the  best  we  can  manage  in  the  emergency.  Here  is  a  belt, 


A   RESCUE  219 

if  you  strap  that  round  your  waist  it  will  make  the  thing  look 
more  comfortable." 

The  girl  smiled  wanly.  Now  that  her  face  and  hands  were 
clean,  Nat  saw  that  she  was  a  pretty  little  thing,  and  would 
have  been  prettier  had  not  her  hair  been  cut  quite  short. 

"  We  are  going  this  evening,"  Nat  went  on,  "  to  try  to 
rescue  your  parents  and  sister  from  those  black  fiends." 

She  clasped  her  hands  before  her. 

"  Oh,  sir,  that  is  good  of  you !  " 

"  Not  at  all.  You  don't  suppose  that  we  are  going  to 
remain  here  quietly,  knowing  that  close  by  there  are  white 
people  in  the  hands  of  those  scoundrels.  We  shall  want  you  to 
act  as  our  guide.  We  are  going  to  take  a  saw  with  us  and  cut 
away  the  wood  round  that  hole  you  escaped  by,  and  hope  to 
get  your  friends  out  without  the  negroes  seeing  us.  If  they 
do,  so  much  the  worse  for  them.  Now,  will  you  sit  down  while 
the  steward  lays  the  cloth  for  lunch?  —  it  will  be  ready  in 
two  or  three  minutes ;  then  I  will  brrng  the  other  two  officers 
down  to  introduce  them  to  you."  He  raised  his  voice  :  "Sam  ! 
luncheon  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  young  negro  was  expecting  the  order,  and  ran  in  at 
once  with  a  table-cloth  and  a  plate-basket,  and  in  two  or  three 
minutes  the  table  was  laid;  then  he  went  out  and  returned 
with  the  plates. 

"  Eberyting  ready,  sah ;  me  bring  down  de  soup  when  you 
gib  de  word." 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Turnbull  and  Mr.  Lippincott, 
and  ask  them  to  come  down  to  lunch." 

The  girl  looked  anxious  and  shy  as  she  heard  the  footsteps 
coming  down  the  companion,  but  an  expression  of  relief  came 
over  her  face  as  she  saw  that  they  were  eve*  younger  than  the 
officer  she  had  already  seen. 

"These  are  my  officers,  mademoiselle  —  Mr.  Turnbull  and 


220  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

Mr.  Lippincott.  Their  French  is  not  of  the  best,  but  you 
must  make  allowance  for  them." 

The  girl  smiled  and  held  out  her  hand  to  the  two  middies. 
The  news  that  her  parents  and  sister  might  yet  be  rescued  had 
already  greatly  raised  her  spirits. 

"I  do  look  funny,  do  I  not?"  she  said. 

"  I  am  sure  you  look  very  nice,"  Turnbull  replied.  "  It  is 
quite  a  novelty  for  us  to  have  a  lady  on  board." 

"And  are  you  both  going  to  help  bring  my  friends  down?" 

"Yes,  we  are  all  going.  We  will  get  them  down,  and  I 
hope  we  shall  have  a  chance  of  punishing  some  of  the  mur- 
derous niggers." 

"  You  mean  you  hope  that  there  will  be  a  fight  ?  "  she  asked 
in  a  tone  of  surprise,  as  she  took  her  seat  on  Nat's  right 
hand. 

"  That  I  do,"  Turnbull  said  heartily.  "  There  is  not  a  man 
on  board  who  would  not  be  sorry  if  we  were  to  get  down  again 
without  an  opportunity  of  having  a  slap  at  the  beggars." 

"Mr.  Turnbull  is  a  very  bloodthirsty  character,"  Nat  said 
gravely.  "  I  don't  know  whether  you  have  in  French  a 
history  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer?" 

"I  never  saw  such  a  book,"  she  said,  looking  a  little 
puzzled.  "Did  he  really  kill  giants?" 

"Yes,  Jack  did;  he  was  wonderful  that  way.  Mr.  Turn- 
bull  has  never  been  able  to  find  any  giants,  but  he  means  to 
take  it  out  of  the  blacks." 

"I  am  sorry  to  say,  mademoiselle,"  Turnbull  said,  "that 
although  when  on  the  quarter-deck  our  captain's  word  may  be 
received  as  gospel,  he  permits  himself  a  very  wide  latitude 
of  speech  in  his  own  cabin.  The  fact  is,  that  whatever  my 
disposition  may  be,  I  have  never  yet  had  any  opportunity  for 
performing  any  very  desperate  actions,  whereas  Lieutenant 
Glover  has  been  killing  his  enemies  by  scores,  fighting  with 


A   RESCUE  221 

wild  beasts,  attacking  pirates  in  their  holds,  has  been  blown  up 
into  the  air,  and  rescued  ladies  from  slaughter  by  the  negroes." 

The  French  girl  turned  her  eyes  wonderingly  towards  Nat. 

"  You  need  not  believe  more  than  you  like,  mademoiselle," 
he  said  with  a  laugh.  "  I  am  afraid  that  we  are  all  given  to 
exaggerate  very  much,  but  Mr.  Turnbull  is  the  champion 
fabricator." 

"  But  is  it  quite  true  that  you  are  going  to  try  to  get  my 
father  and  mother  and  sister  away  from  the  negroes?" 

"  That  is  quite  true,"  Nat  said  earnestly.  "  We  are  certainly 
going  to  try  to  get  them,  and  I  think  that  we  have  a  good 
chance  of  doing  so.  Much  will  depend,  of  course,  upon 
whether  we  can  reach  the  hut  where  they  are  confined 
before  being  discovered.  You  see,  we  have  only  twenty-five 
men,  or,  counting  us  all,  including  the  quarter-master,  steward, 
and  cook,  thirty-one.  It  is  a  small  force,  and  though  we  might 
bring  all  the  prisoners  off  in  safety  if  we  once  got  them  into 
our  hands,  it  would  be  a  serious  thing  if  the  negroes  had  time 
to  rally  round  the  hut  before  we  got  there.  How  does  it 
stand,  is  it  surrounded  by  trees?" 

"  No,  it  is  at  the  edge  of  the  forest.  There  is  a  large  indigo 
field  in  front,  and  it  is  there  most  of  the  negroes  are.  There 
may  be  some  in  the  forest,  but  I  did  not  see  any  as  I  came 
down  here." 

"  That  is  good.     How  many  do  you  say  there  are  ?  " 

"  Seven  men,  without  counting  my  father." 

"  We  will  tell  eight  of  the  sailors  to  carry  up  boarding-pikes, 
Turnbull.  Unfortunately  we  have  no  spare  firearms.  How- 
ever, boarding-pikes  are  not  bad  weapons,  and  as  no  doubt 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  negroes  have  guns,  it  will  add  a 
good  deal  to  our  strength  if  it  comes  to  a  hand-to-hand  fight." 

"  That  it  will,"  Turnbull  agreed.  "  That  will  bring  us  up  to 
thirty-nine,  and  thirty-nine  whites  ought  to  be  able  to  fight 


222  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

their  way  easily  enough  through  this  black  mob,  especially  as 
we  shall  take  them  by  surprise,  and  they  won't  know  how 
many  of  us  there  are." 

As  soon  as  it  became  dark,  Lippincott  went  off  in  the  gig, 
and  returned  in  half  an  hour  with  the  news  that  there  were 
six  feet  of  water  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  and  twelve  feet  ten 
yards  away. 

"I  think,  sir,"  he  said,  "that  we  could  get  her  in  within 
three  or  four  yards  of  the  rock." 

"That  would  do  excellently,"  Nat  said.  "The  carpenter 
had  better  set  to  work  at  once  and  nail  three  planks  —  we 
have  got  some  down  below  fifteen  feet  long  —  side  by  side.  Let 
two  of  the  hands  help  him.  Tell  him,  if  he  does  not  think 
that  it  will  be  stiff  enough,  to  nail  one  of  the  spare  oars  on 
each  plank." 

He  had  learned  from  the  girl  that  many  of  the  negroes  sat 
up  by  their  fires  nearly  all  night,  and  that  therefore  there  was 
no  advantage  in  delaying  the  landing,  and  he  was  anxious  to 
move  the  schooner  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  boats  might 
appear  at  any  time.  Everything  was  in  readiness  —  the  arms 
had  been  brought  on  deck,  the  muskets  and  pistols  loaded, 
and  as  soon  as  the  gangway  was  knocked  together,  which  did 
not  take  many  minutes,  Lippincott  went  oft"  in  the  gig  with  a 
long  hawser.  As  soon  as  he  returned  and  reported  that  he 
had  fastened  it  to  a  tree  above  the  rock,  the  crew  tailed  on, 
and  the  schooner  was  noiselessly  towed  to  her  place.  Another 
hawser  was  taken  on  shore,  and  she  was  hauled  broadside  on 
until  she  lay,  with  only  a  few  inches  of  water  under  her  keel, 
within  ten  feet  of  the  line  of  rock. 

The  hatchways  had  all  been  securely  fastened  down,  and 
an  old  chain  was  taken  round  the  trunk  of  a  large  tree,  and 
its  ends  shackled  round  the  mainmast.  This  could  be  loosed 
almost  instantaneously  by  the  crew  when  they  returned,  but 


A   RESCUE  223 

would  much  increase  the  difficulty  that  the  negroes  would 
encounter  in  getting  the  vessel  away  if  they  discovered  her. 
The  edge  of  the  rock  was  but  some  three  feet  higher  than  the 
rail,  and  there  was  therefore  no  difficulty  in  ascending  the 
gangway.  When  all  had  crossed,  this  was  pulled  up  and 
pushed  in  among  the  bushes.  They  followed  the  shore  till 
they  reached  the  spot  at  which  the  girl  had  come  dowa,  as 
she  would  more  easily  find  her  way  from  there  than  from  the 
place  where  they  had  landed.  Telling  the  others  to  follow  in 
single  file,  Nat  took  his  place  with  the  girl,  at  their  head. 

"  How  far  is  it  ?  "  he  said  to  her  in  low  tones. 

"  It  is  just  at  the  top  of  the  hill.  We  shall  be  there  in  less 
than  a  quarter  of  an  hour."  The  sailors  had  been  warned  to 
walk  with  the  greatest  caution,  and  especially  to  avoid  strik- 
ing any  of  their  weapons  against  the  trees. 

They  went  slowly,  for  it  was  very  dark  in  the  forest.  Be- 
yond the  fact  that  she  had  come  straight  down  the  hill  when 
she  escaped,  she  could  give  no  information  about  the  way. 

"  I  did  not  look,"  she  said ;  "  I  ran  straight  down.  But  I 
am  sure  that  if  we  go  as  straight  as  we  can  up  from  the  water, 
we  shall  come  upon  the  plantation,  and  then  I  shall  be  able 
to  tell  you  exactly  where  the  hut  is." 

Keeping  therefore  upward,  they  went  on  until  they  reached 
level  ground,  and  saw  by  the  faint  light  ahead  that  they  were 
nearing  the  edge  of  the  forest.  They  stepped  even  more 
cautiously  then  until  they  arrived  at  the  open  ground.  A 
dozen  great  fires  blazed  in  various  places  in  front  of  them,  and 
they  could  hear  the  laughing  and  talking  of  the  negroes. 

"  It  is  more  to  the  right,"  the  girl  said.  "  It  is  nearly  in 
tlie  corner  of  the  field  where  you  see  that  fire  ;  that  is  close  to 
the  hut.  They  always  keep  a  big  fire  there,  and  the  leaders 
sleep  round  it.  There  are  always  two  negroes  on  guard  in 
front  of  the  hut." 


224  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  I  expect  they  have  got  one  behind  now.  Of  course  they 
have  found  out  by  this  time  that  you  have  escaped,  and 
they  must  have  known  that  it  could  only  have  been  by  that 
window." 

Keeping  well  inside  the  line  of  trees,  they  crept  along  to 
the  corner  of  the  clearing.  The  two  negroes  had  been  in- 
structed in  the  part  they  were  to  play,  and  as  soon  as 
they  got  well  round  behind  the  house  the  others  halted,  and 
knife  in  hand  they  crept  through  the  trees,  and  then  upon 
their  hands  and  knees  crawled  forward.  The  others  listened 
intently.  The  gabble  of  voices  continued  on  the  other  side  of 
the  hut,  and  when  a  louder  yell  of  laughter  than  usual  broke 
out  they  saw  a  figure  appear  at  one  corner  and  look  round,  as 
if  anxious  to  hear  what  was  going  on.  Suddenly  two  arms 
appeared  from  the  darkness  behind  him.  He  was  grasped  by 
the  throat  and  disappeared  suddenly  from  sight.  Two  minutes 
later  Sam  came  through  the  trees. 

"  Dat  chile  no  gib  de  alarm,  sah.  Can  go  on  now  and  cut 
him  window." 

The  carpenter  and  the  man  told  off  to  assist  him  at  once  ran 
forward,  accompanied  by  the  girl  and  Nat,  who  went  straight 
to  the  little  window.  He  had  told  her  that  she  must  not 
speak,  for  her  mother  or  sister  might  utter  a  sudden  exclama- 
tion which  would  alarm  the  sentries  on  the  other  side.  Putting 
his  face  to  the  window,  he  said  in  a  low  voice,  "  I  pray  you 
be  silent,  the  slightest  sound  might  cost  you  your  lives.  We 
are  here  to  rescue  you ;  your  daughter  is  safe  and  sound 
with  us.  Now  we  are  going  to  enlarge  the  window."  Low 
exclamations  of  delight  told  him  that  he  was  heard. 

The  carpenter  at  once  set  to  work,  the  man  with  him 
oiling  his  saw  very  frequently ;  nevertheless  it  seemed  to  Nat 
to  make  even  more  noise  than  usual.  Suddenly,  however,  one 
of  the  prisoners  began  to  utter  a  prayer  in  a  loud  voice. 


A   RESCUE  225 

"  That  is  papa,"  the  girl  whispered ;  "  he  used  to  say  prayers 
every  night." 

"  It  was  a  very  good  idea  to  begin  now,"  Nat  said.  "  What 
with  the  row  by  the  fires,  and  his  voice  inside,  the  guard  are 
not  likely  to  hear  the  saw." 

In  ten  minutes  the  window  had  been  enlarged  to  a  point 
sufficient  for  a  full-sized  person  to  get  through. 

"  Now,  madam,  will  you  come  first,"  Nat  said.  "  We  will 
pull  you  through  all  right." 

One  by  one  the  captives  were  got  out.  There  were  still 
two  men  left  when  the  door  opened,  and  three  or  four  negroes 
appeared  with  blazing  brands. 

"  We  have  come  to  fetch  one  of  you  out  to  give  us  a  lillie 
fun.  Bake  'im  some  ober  de  fire." 

Then  he  broke  off  with  a  shout  of  astonishment  as  he  saw 
that  the  hut  was  almost  untenanted,  and  he  and  the  others 
were  about  to  rush  forward  at  the  two  men  still  there  when 
Nat  thrust  his  arm  through  the  opening.  Two  shots  cracked 
out,  one  after  the  other.  The  two  leading  negroes  fell,  and 
the  others  with  a  yell  of  terror  rushed  out  of  the  hut. 

"  Quick,  for  your  lives !  "  he  said  to  the  two  men,  one  of 
whom  was  already  half  through  the  window.  "  We  shall  have 
them  all  on  us  in  a  few  minutes." 

In  a  few  seconds  the  men  were  out,  and  Nat  and  the  two 
seamen  ran  with  them  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  to  which  the 
other  captives  had  been  passed  on  as  soon  as  they  were  freed. 
By  this  time  the  air  was  ringing  with  yells  and  shouts. 

"  Now,  men,  move  along  a  little  farther  so  as  to  get  a  view 
of  the  fire,  and  then  we  will  give  them  a  volley." 

The  negroes  were  rushing  forward,  yelling  and  shouting, 
when  twenty-five  muskets  rang  out  with  deadly  aim,  for  the 
blacks  were  not  more  than  thirty  yards  away. 

"Load  again,  lads!   that  will   sicken  them  for  a  bit,"  he 


226  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

shouted ;  and  indeed  the  negroes  with  yells  of  astonishment 
and  fear  had  run  back,  leaving  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  of  their 
number  on  the  ground. 

"Are  you  all  loaded?" 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  Then  down  the  hill  you  go.  Have  the  three  ladies  gone  on  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir;  the  two  blacks  went  down  with  them." 

"  Have  the  Frenchmen  got  their  pikes  ?  That  is  good ;  now 
keep  as  close  as  you  can  together.  They  are  coming  up  by 
scores,  and  will  make  a  rush  in  a  minute  or  so." 

As  fast  as  they  could  the  sailors  and  the  rescued  men  made 
their  way  down  the  hill,  but  owing  to  the  thickness  of  the 
trees  it  was  impossible  to  run.  They  had  gone  but  a  short 
distance  when  there  was  an  outburst  of  yells  round  them,  and, 
looking  back,  Nat  saw  a  number  of  blazing  brands. 

"You  had  better  have  kept  in  the  dark,"  he  muttered. 
"  You  would  not  have  come  so  fast,  but  more  of  you  would 
go  back  alive.  Don't  hurry,  men,"  he  said ;  "  take  it  coolly, 
Take  care  of  the  trees.  They  are  sure  to  come  up  to  us,  for 
they  can  see  their  way ;  but  they  won't  be  in  such  a  hurry 
when  we  open  fire  again." 

They  were  half-way  down  the  hill  when  he  gave  the  order : 
"  You  four  men  next  to  me  turn  round  and  pick  off  some  of 
those  fellows  with  torches.  The  rest  halt  in  case  they  make  a 
rush." 

The  four  shots  were  fired  one  after  the  other.  As  many 
negroes  fell. 

"  Are  you  ready,  lads  ?    Four  more  fire  !  " 

The  shots  had  an  equal  success.  Many  of  the  negroes  at 
once  took  refuge  behind  trees. 

"  That  will  do,  men ;  on  you  go  again !  Don't  make  more 
noise  than  you  can  help.  With  all  that  yelling  they  won't  be 
sure  that  we  have  moved." 


"FOUR  SHOTS  WERE  FIRED  AND  AS  MANY  NEGROES  FELL." 


A   RESCUE  227 

It  was  not,  indeed,  until  they  were  down  on  the  shore  that 
the  negroes  again  came  up  with  them.  Then  they  burst  out  at 
several  points  from  the  trees,  being  uncertain  of  the  exact  course 
the  retreating  party  had  taken. 

"  Now,  keep  together  in  a  body,  men  !  "  Nat  shouted  in  Eng- 
lish, and  repeated  the  same  order  in  French.  "  March  steadily 
forward.  We  have  got  to  fight  our  way  through  them." 

Now  that  the  negroes  saw  how  comparatively  small  was  the 
number  of  their  foes,  they  rushed  upon  them. 

"  Don't  throw  away  a  shot !  "  Nat  shouted.  "  Now,  let  them 
have  it ! " 

The  men  who  had  already  fired  had  loaded  again,  and  as 
the  negroes  came  up,  a  crackling  fire  broke  out  from  the  little 
party. 

"  Now,  lads,  at  them  with  pistol,  cutlass,  and  pike !  We 
must  get  through  these  fellows  ahead  before  others  come  up." 

With  a  loud  cheer  the  sailors  rushed  upon  the  blacks,  cutting 
and  thrusting,  the  men  who  had  been  released  fighting  with 
desperate  fury  with  their  pikes,  mad  with  the  thirst  for  revenge 
for  the  horrible  atrocities  that  they  witnessed  and  the  thought 
of  the  fate  they  had  escaped.  Pistols  cracked  out  continually, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  the  negroes  lost  heart ;  and  the 
sailors,  at  Nat's  order,  flung  themselves  upon  them  and  cut  a 
way  through. 

"  Straight  on  now,  men !  Show  them  that  you  can  run  as 
well  as  fight.  We  shall  have  a  hundred  more  of  them  down 
on  us  directly." 

There  was  no  doubt  of  this  ;  the  yells  that  rose  from  the 
forest  and  the  light  of  many  brands  showed  that  the  whole  of 
the  negroes  were  hastening  to  join  their  comrades.  Nat  had 
previously  begged  the  two  officers  and  the  quarter-master  not 
to  use  their  pistols,  and  he,  with  them,  ran  in  the  rear  line.  A 
few  only  of  the  negroes  pressed  closely  behind  them ;  the  rest, 


228  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

dismayed  by  the  slaughter  that  had  taken  place,  awaited  the 
arrival  of  their  comrades. 

"  Now,  turn  and  let  them  have  both  barrels  !  "  Nat  said ;  and 
the  four  men,  facing  round,  levelled  their  pistols,  and  six  of 
the  leading  negroes  fell,  while  the  others  halted  at  once. 
"  Keep  your  other  pistols,"  Nat  said  ;  "  we  shall  want  them  at 
the  gangway." 

There  was  a  shout  of  satisfaction  as  the  men  in  advance 
caught  sight  of  the  schooner.  The  two  negroes  had  already 
placed  the  gangway  in  position,  and  had  crossed  it  with  the 
three  ladies  and  Monsieur  Pickard,  who  had  accompanied  them. 

"  Over  you  go,  men !  "  Nat  shouted  ;  "  they  are  close  behind 
us." 

Most  of  the  men  were  across  when  a  crowd  of  blacks  came 
rushing  along.  Sam  and  Pomp  had  taken  their  station  at  the 
taffrail,  and  as  the  head  of  the  mob  came  on  their  muskets 
flashed  out,  and  the  two  leading  men  fell.  Then  they  opened 
fire  with  their  pistols,  and  at  the  same  moment  Nat  and  his 
three  companions  discharged  their  remaining  pistols  and  then 
ran  down  the  gangway,  the  sailors  having  by  this  time  all  passed 
over.  The  planks  were  at  once  pulled  on  board. 

"  Now,  unshackle  the  chain  and  round  with  the  capstan !  " 
Nat  shouted.  "The  rest  of  you  lie  down  behind  the  bul- 
warks. " 

A  moment  later  the  chain  was  unshackled,  and  as  the  cap- 
stan rapidly  revolved,  the  schooner's  head  receded  from  the 
shore.  Yells  of  rage  broke  from  the  negroes,  and  a  scattered 
fire  of  musketry  was  opened. 

"  Now,  Turnbull,  do  you  and  Lippincott  each  go  to  a  gun, 
and  when  we  are  far  enough  off  for  them  to  bear  on  those 
rascals  let  them  have  it. 

A  minute  later  the  bow-gun  was  fired.  It  was  too  near  for 
the  shot  to  spread  properly,  but  it  cut  a  lane  through  the 


A   RESCUE  229 

crowd,  and  half  a  minute  later  the  second  gun  crashed  out. 
By  this  time  the  sailors  had  all  loaded  their  muskets  again. 

"  Now  for  a  volley  ! "  Nat  shouted ;  "  that  will  finish  them, 
or  I  am  mistaken." 

It  was  indeed  decisive,  and  with  yells  of  rage  and  pain  the 
negroes  darted  into  the  forest  behind  them.  As  fast  as  the 
guns  could  be  loaded,  round  after  round  of  grape  was  fired 
among  the  trees.  By  this  time  the  schooner  was  close  to 
the  kedge ;  this  was  hauled  up  and  sail  set,  but  the  breeze 
was  so  light  that  the  vessel  scarcely  moved  through  the  water. 
The  guns  were  again  loaded  with  grape,  and  a  keen  watch 
was  kept,  as  it  was  possible  that  the  boats  might  not  yet  have 
arrived,  having  delayed  putting  off  until  it  was  thought  that 
all  on  board  would  be  asleep.  In  the  meantime  the  wounds 
were  examined.  None  of  these  was  serious.  Only  a  small 
proportion  of  the  negroes  were  armed  with  muskets,  and  these 
being  among  the  crowd  had  for  the  most  part  been  unable  to 
fire ;  consequently  only  one  man  had  been  hit  in  the  arm  by  a 
ball,  while  six  or  eight  had  received  gashes  more  or  less  deep 
from  the  knives  and  other  weapons  of  the  negroes. 

"  Even  if  the  boats  have  not  been  here,"  Nat  said  to  Lippin- 
cott,  "  I  don't  think  we  shall  have  any  trouble  with  them  ;  they 
will  have  heard  our  guns,  and,  I  dare  say,  the  musketry  firing, 
and  will  know  that,  now  we  are  awake  and  on  our  guard,  we 
should  probably  sink  them  before  they  reached  us." 

Half  an  hour  passed,  and  then,  as  they  got  beyond  the  shelter 
of  the  island,  they  caught  a  little  breeze,  and  the  schooner  began 
to  slip  through  the  water. 

Nat  called  the  men  from  the  guns.  "  I  don't  think  that  we 
shall  have  any  more  fighting  to-night,"  he  said.  "  You  have 
all  done  very  well.  We  have  certainly  killed  three  times  our 
own  number,  and  we  have  successfully  carried  out  the  main 
object  of  our  adventure.  I  have  ordered  the  steward  to  serve 


230  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

out  a  good  ration  of  rum  all  round,  but  I  should  advise  you 
who  have  got  wounds  to  keep  your  share  for  a  few  days." 

"  It  won't  hurt  us,  sir,"  one  old  sailor  said,  and  three  or  four 
other  voices  were  raised  in  assent. 

"  I  did  not  suppose  that  my  advice  would  be  taken,"  Nat 
said  with  a  laugh  to  Turnbull,  "  still,  it  was  as  well  to  give  it ; 
and  I  don't  suppose  that  an  extra  allowance  of  grog  will  go 
far  towards  heating  their  blood." 

"  Not  it,"  the  middy  replied ;  "  rum  is  cheap  out  here,  and 
I  don't  suppose  that  half  a  bottle  would  be  considered  by 
them  as  an  excessive  drink.  How  are  you  going  to  stow  our 
passengers  away?  Of  course  we  will  give  up  our  cabins  to 
the  ladies." 

"I  think  the  best  plan  will  be  for  us  to  turn  out  alto- 
gether, Turnbull;  there  will  be  our  three  state-rooms  for  the 
ladies,  and  the  father  can  sleep  on  the  sofa  of  the  main  cabin. 
We  will  have  a  screen  put  up  forward  of  the  steward's  cabin, 
and  have  cots  slung  for  ourselves  there.  Of  course  we  will 
take  our  meals  with  them  aft.  I  don't  think  there  are  any 
spare  hammocks,  and  the  eight  white  men  must  make  a  shift 
to  sleep  on  some  old  sails  —  it  won't  be  for  many  days.  Well, 
Sam,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Supper  am  ready,  sah." 

Leaving  the  quarter-master  to  take  charge  of  the  watch,  they 
went  below.  They  had  not  expected  to  see  the  ladies  up,  but 
they  were  all  there. 

"Monsieur  Pickard,  I  must  introduce  myself  and  my  offi- 
cers." 

"  It  needs  no  introductions,  sir,"  the  Frenchman,  a  tall,  thin 
man  some  fifty  years  of  age,  said  in  a  broken  voice;  "my 
daughter  Louise  has  told  me  your  names,  and  how  good  you 
have  been  to  her.  Ah,  monsieur,  no  words  can  express  our 
obligations  to  you  all!  It  was  not  death  we  feared,  but  such 


A   RESCUE  231 

a  death.  Even  now  we  can  scarce  believe  that  this  is  all  true, 
and  that  we  have  escaped  from  those  fiends.  In  the  name  of 
my  wife  and  my  daughters  and  myself,  I  thank  you  with  all 
my  heart  for  what  you  have  done  for  us.  Little,  indeed,  did 
we  think,  when  we  helped  Louise  through  that  narrow  window 
in  order  that  she  might  warn  you  that  you  were  going  to  be 
attacked,  and  with  the  hope  that  she  might  escape  from  the 
awful  fate  that  awaited  us  there,  that  it  would  be  the  means 
of  saving  us  all.  We  heard  the  negroes  saying  that  the 
schooner  was  flying  the  British  flag,  but  we  had  no  idea  that 
she  was  a  vessel  of  war,  thinking  it  was  a  small  trader  they 
were  about  to  attack.  But  even  had  we  known  it,  it  would  not 
have  raised  any  hopes  in  our  minds,  for  we  should  not  have 
thought  that,  with  so  small  a  force  as  such  a  vessel  could  carry, 
her  commander  would  think  of  attacking  so  great  a  number  of 
men  as,  Louise  would  have  told  you,  had  us  in  their  power." 

"  We  are  only  too  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  being  of 
service  to  you  and  your  family,  Monsieur  Pickard.  Indeed, 
had  there  been  only  these  two  officers  and  myself  on  board, 
I  am  sure  that  we  should  have  made  an  attempt  to  release 
you ;  and  should,  I  have  no  doubt,  have  succeeded  in  doing  so 
without  being  discovered,  as  would  have  been  the  case  to-night, 
had  not  they  taken  it  into  their  heads  to  come  into  the  hut  just 
at  that  moment.  And  now,  monsieur,  for  the  sleeping  arrange- 
ments. My  cabin  is  at  the  service  of  madam e,  those  of  Mr. 
Turnbull  and  Mr.  Lippincott,  of  the  young  ladies.  We  shall 
have  cots  slung  for  ourselves  elsewhere  ;  that  sofa  must  serve  for 
you,  Monsieur  Pickard.  To-morrow,  madame,  we  will  place  at 
your  disposal  whatever  there  is  on  board  the  ship  for  fabricating 
dresses  for  your  daughters  that  will  be  less  striking  than  that 
now  worn  by  Mademoiselle  Louise.  We  have  a  roll  of  white 
duck,  from  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  they  will  be  able  to  con- 
trive a  couple  of  white  dresses."  For  the  eldest  girl,  as  well  as 


232  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Louise,  was  in  boy's  clothes,  as  the  Pickards  had  fortunately 
had  warning  before  the  outbreak  took  place  on  their  planta- 
tion, one  of  the  men  with  them  having  overheard  what  was 
said  at  a  meeting  of  the  negroes,  and  in  consequence  they,  the 
overseers,  two  white  superintendents  of  the  indigo  works,  a 
carpenter  and  mechanic,  had  during  the  night  taken  to  the 
woods,  Madame  Pickard  dressing  her  daughters  in  some 
clothes  that  they  had  in  store,  and  which  were  cut  down  to 
fit  them. 

"And  now,  ladies,"  Nat  went  on,  "I  know  that  you  will 
above  all  things  be  longing  for  bed,  but  I  hope  that  you  will 
each  take  a  basin  of  soup  and  a  glass  of  wine  before  you  turn  in, 
you  must  need  them  sorely.  The  steward  will  get  your  cabins 
ready  for  you.  I  am  sure  that  Mademoiselle  Louise  will  set 
you  a  good  example  ;  she  recovered  her  appetite  as  soon  as  she 
learned  that  we  intended  to  get  you  out." 


CHAPTER  XIH 

TWO   CAPTURES 

THE  meal  was  a  very  short  one,  but  the  ladies,  to  please 
their  rescuers,  took  a  few  spoonfuls  of  soup  and  a  glass  of 
wine.  Madame  Pickard  and  her  elder  daughter  were  too  much 
worn  out  by  anxiety  and  emotion  to  talk,  Monsieur  Pickard 
was  no  less  moved,  and  the  conversation  was  supported  entirely 
by  the  three  officers  and  Louise.  The  young  men  hurried 
through  their  meal,  and  then,  saying  good-night  to  the  others, 
went  up  on  deck. 

"Well,  never  did  a  thing  turn  out  better,"  Nat  said  as  he 
lit  his  pipe ;  "  it  is  a  tremendous  satisfaction  that  we  have  not 
lost  a  single  man  in  the  affair." 


TWO   CAPTURES  233 

"And  it  is  no  less  a  satisfaction,"  Turnbull  said,  "that  we 
have  given  a  good  many  of  those  black  brutes  their  deserts. 
It  was  a  good  fight  for  a  bit" 

As  they  were  smoking,  the  seven  white  men  came  up  in  a 
body. 

"We  could  not  lie  down,  monsieur,"  one  of  them  said,  "till 
we  had  come  to  thank  you  for  saving  us  from  the  most  fright- 
ful deaths.  We  had  given  up  all  hopes  even  of  obtaining  a 
weapon  and  putting  an  end  to  ourselves,  which  we  should 
certainly  have  done  could  we  have  got  hold  of  a  knife,  after 
having  been  obliged  to  witness  the  tortures  of  two  of  our 
comrades.  Had  you  been  but  ten  minutes  later  another  of 
us  would  have  been  their  victim.  Ah,  monsieur !  your  voice, 
when  you  spoke  at  the  window,  seemed  like  that  of  an  angel 
who  had  come  to  our  relief." 

" How  long  had  you  been  in  the  woods?  "  Nat  asked. 

"Six  weeks,  monsieur,  before  the  negroes  found  us.  We 
had  carried  off  some  provisions  with  us,  but  these  were  all  con- 
sumed, and  we  were  obliged  to  go  down  to  the  plantation  to 
search  for  food.  We  suppose  that  we  were  seen  and  followed, 
and  the  next  night  we  were  surrounded  by  the  band  you  saw." 

"  Well,  we  are  all  very  glad  to  have  got  you  out  of  their 
hands,  and  you  rendered  good  service  when  the  blacks  came 
down  on  us." 

"  We  had  our  revenge  to  take,"  the  man  said,  "  and  not  one 
of  us  but  would  have  fought  until  he  was  killed." 

"You  have  had  something  to  eat,  I  hope?" 

"  Yes,  thank  you,  sir." 

"  You  had  better  turn  in  now.  I  don't  suppose  you  have  had 
much  sleep  of  late." 

"  Poor  beggars,"  Turnbull  said  as  the  men  walked  away,  "  I 
wonder  myself  that  they  did  not  strangle  each  other,  or  hang 
themselves,  or  something.  I  am  sure  I  should  have  done  so 


234  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

rather  than  wait  day  after  day  till  my  turn  came  to  be  burnt 
alive,  or  to  be  cut  to  pieces  gradually,  or  put  to  death  by  any 
other  means  of  slow  torture." 

"Yes,  Turnbull,  if  one  were  quite  sure  that  there  was  no 
possible  hope  of  rescue  or  escape ;  but  I  suppose  a  man  never 
does  quite  give  up  hope.  This  was  an  example,  you  see,  of 
the  unlikely  happening." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  next,  Glover?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  I  have  hardly  thought  it  out  yet  You  see, 
we  can  manage  with  this  lot  we  have  on  board  without  much 
difficulty,  and  I  don't  know  that  I  should  be  justified  in  going 
round  to  Cape  Francois  on  purpose  to  land  them.  So  far  we 
have  not  been  able  to  bring  any  news  of  value,  and  at  any 
rate  I  think  we  might  as  well  cruise  about  here  a  little  longer. 
There  is  one  thing,  if  we  should  fall  in  with  anyone  bigger 
than  ourselves  and  have  to  fight  for  it,  those  fellows  who  have 
just  gone  below  will  be  a  valuable  addition  to  our  strength. 
When  it  comes  to  a  hand-to-hand  fight  seven  stout  fellows 
might  turn  the  scale." 

"  Yes,  there  is  something  in  that,  and  I  am  glad  you  mean 
to  keep  them  on  board  for  a  bit.  I  think  the  girls  will  be 
very  good  fun  when  they  have  a  little  got  over  what  they 
have  gone  through.  The  young  one  is  a  jolly  little  thing,  and 
her  sister  is  very  pretty,  in  spite  of  her  short  hair  and  boy's 
dress,  though  one  had  not  much  opportunity  of  forming  an  idea 
as  to  whether  she  had  any  fun  in  her." 

"  I  fancy  it  will  be  some  time  before  she  will  feel  inclined 
for  a  flirtation,  Turnbull,"  Nat  laughed.  "What  she  has 
gone  through,  and  what  she  has  seen  in  the  way  of  horrors, 
is  enough  to  damp  a  girl's  spirits  for  a  very  long  time." 

In  the  morning  the  ladies  did  not  appear  at  breakfast. 

"  My  wife  is  completely  prostrated,"  Monsieur  Pickard  said, 
"and  the  two  girls  are  shy  and  do  not  like  showing  themselves 


TWO  CAPTURES  235 

until  they  have  made  up  a  couple  of  dresses.  Your  steward 
gave  them  the  roll  of  white  cotton  early  this  morning  and 
needles  and  thread,  and  both  are  very  hard  at  work.  I  hope 
you  will  excuse  them,  they  will  come  out  and  have  break- 
fast here  after  we  have  done.  May  I  ask  where  we  are  sailing 
now?" 

"We  are  sailing  east,  monsieur.  I  hope  that  it  will  not 
inconvenience  you  to  be  a  few  days  on  board.  My  orders  are 
to  cruise  up  and  down  the  coast,  and  I  wish  therefore  to  go 
east  as  far  as  the  boundary  between  the  French  and  Spanish 
portions  of  the  island ;  after  that  I  can  go  round  into  the  bay 
of  Hayti  and  land  you  at  Port-au-Prince  or  Cape  Francois, 
whichever  you  would  prefer." 

"  It  will  make  no  difference  whatever  to  us,  and  indeed  I 
am  sure  that  a  cruise  on  your  beautiful  little  ship  will  be  the 
very  best  thing  for  my  wife  and  daughters.  They  will  have 
perfect  rest  and  sea  air,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  them 
to  tell  over  and  over  again  the  stories  of  their  sufferings ;  but 
I  lament  that  we  should  be  putting  you  to  such  personal 
inconvenience." 

"  I  can  assure  you,  monsieur,  that  you  are  putting  us  to  no 
inconvenience  whatever.  We  sleep  just  as  well  in  our  cots 
as  in  our  berths,  and  the  society  of  the  ladies  and  yourself 
will  be  a  very  great  pleasure  to  us,  for  as  a  rule  we  have  very 
small  opportunity  in  that  way." 

"  You  speak  our  language  very  fluently,  Monsieur  Glover." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  speak  it  more  fluently  than  grammati- 
cally. I  had  the  opportunity  of  picking  it  up  by  ear  last  year, 
when  I  was  staying  for  six  weeks  at  the  house  of  Monsieur 
Duchesne  at  Cape  Francois." 

"  We  know  him  well,  and  his  charming  wife  and  daughter," 
Monsieur  Pickard  said,  "  for  we  have  a  house  there,  and  gener- 
ally go  there  for  three  months  every  winter.  Can  it  be  that 


236  A  KOV1NG  COMMISSION 

you  are  the  officer  who  saved  their  daughter's  life,  when  she 
was  attacked  by  a  fierce  hound? " 

"  Yes,  I  had  that  good  fortune." 

"I  fear  that  they  have  fallen  in  this  terrible  insurrection. 
We  have  had  no  direct  news  from  Cape  Francois,  but  we 
heard  that  in  their  district  all  the  plantations  have  been 
destroyed  and  the  owners  murdered." 

"  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  they  were  saved. 
I  was  staying  there  at  the  time  when  the  revolt  broke  out. 
We  were  warned  just  in  time  by  an  old  nurse,  Dinah." 

"  I  remember  her,"  Monsieur  Pickard  broke  in,  "  a  tall  old 
woman." 

"  Yes,  Monsieur  Duchesne  himself  was  in  town,  and  madame, 
Myra,  and  I  had  just  time  to  gain  the  forest.  There  we  were 
joined  by  Dinah,  who  did  everything  for  us.  Madame  was 
attacked  by  fever,  but  fortunately  Dinah  knew  of  a^very  safe 
place  of  refuge.  She  did  everything  for  us,  fetched  up  pro- 
visions, concocted  medicine,  and  after  being  ten  days  in  hiding, 
we  were  able  to  get  them  down  to  the  town." 

Both  the  midshipmen  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  French, 
though  they  were  not  able  to  speak  it  with  Nat's  ease  and 
fluency.  When  the  latter  had  finished,  Turnbull  broke  in  : 

"  Mr.  Glover  does  not  tell  you,  monsieur,  that  the  cave  they 
were  in  was  attacked  by  six  negroes,  led  by  two  mulattoes, 
and  he  shot  them  all,  nor  that  he  and  the  nurse  carried 
Madame  Duchesne  down  in  a  litter  some  twenty  miles  to 
the  town,  although  he  had  one  of  his  ribs  broken  by  a  pistol 
shot." 

"  What  is  the  use  of  talking  about  that  ? "  Nat  said  angrily. 
"  The  thing  was  done  and  there  was  an  end  of  it.  There  has 
been  a  lot  too  much  said  about  it  as  it  is." 

Monsieur  Pickard  smiled.  "  Monsieur  Glover  is  like  my 
daughters  at  present,  he  is  shy.  He  should  not  be  so.  It  is 


TWO  CAPTURES  237 

right  that  we,  his  friends,  —  for  we  are  his  friends,  now  and  for 
the  rest  of  our  lives,  —  should  know  what  he  is.  Ah,  my  wife 
and  the  girls  will  be  pleased  indeed  to  hear  that  their  friends 
have  escaped !  They  have  often  said  how  sorry  they  were 
that  they  had  not  seen  the  young  officer  who  rescued  their 
friend  Myra  from  the  dog.  It  is  strange  indeed  that  he 
should  afterwards  have  saved  her  and  her  mother  from  the 
negroes,  and  should  now  have  so  rescued  us." 

That  evening  the  girls  appeared  on  deck  in  snowy-white 
dresses,  simply  made,  but  fitting  admirably.  "We  have  always 
been  accustomed  to  cut  out  our  own  dresses,"  Valerie  said, 
laughing,  when  Nat  complimented  her  on  the  work.  "The 
slaves  did  the  sewing,  but  we  fitted  each  other.  Of  course  at 
Cape  Francois  we  had  our  dresses  made  for  us,  but  on  the 
plantation  we  were  obliged  to  trust  to  ourselves." 

One  morning,  three  days  later,  as  they  were  at  breakfast, 
Nat  stopped  as  he  was  raising  a  cup  to  his  lips.  "  That  is  a 
gun !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  There  is  another  1 "  and  with  the  two 
middies  he  ran  up  on  deck.  "  There  is  a  fight  going  on  some- 
where," he  said  as  the  sound  of  firing  was  again  heard.  "  It  must 
be  six  or  seven  miles  away,  somewhere  beyond  that  headland. 
At  any  rate  we  will  hold  on  and  have  a  look  at  them.  With 
this  light  wind  it  will  take  us  from  an  hour  and  a  half  to  two 
hours  before  we  are  up  with  them,  so  we  may  as  well  finish 
our  breakfast  in  comfort." 

"  What  is  it,  Monsieur  Glover !  Are  those  noises  really 
the  sound  of  guns  ?  " 

"There  is  no  doubt  about  it.  There  is  a  fight  going  on 
seven  or  eight  miles  away.  We  should  hear  the  sound  more 
plainly  were  it  not  that  there  is  a  headland  between  us  and 
the  vessels  engaged." 

"  Who  can  they  be  ?  "  Madame  Pickard  said. 

"A  pirate  and  a  merchantman,  no  doubt.    None  of  the 


23&  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

European  nations  are  at  war,  but  the  seas  swarm  with  piratical 
craft  of  one  kind  or  another.  The  small  ones  content  them- 
selves with  plundering  native  coasting  vessels,  the  larger  ones 
attack  ships  from  or  to  Europe.  The  Orpheus,  to  which  I 
belonged  at  that  time,  last  year  rooted  out  one  of  their  worst 
nests.  They  had  no  fewer  than  four  ships.  We  were  lucky 
enough  to  catch  one  of  them,  and  learned  where  the  rendez- 
vous was,  and  fortunately  found  the  other  three  at  home,  and 
destroyed  them  and  their  storehouses." 

"  Are  you  going  on  in  that  direction  now  ?  "  Valerie  asked. 

"  Yes,  we  are  going  to  have  a  look  at  them.  If  the  trader 
is  making  a  good  fight  of  it,  our  arrival  may  turn  the  scale ;  if 
we  arrive  too  late  and  find  the  enemy  too  big  for  us,  we  can 
run  away ;  in  a  light  wind  like  this  there  are  very  few  vessels 
that  could  catch  us.  It  is  probable  that  we  should  not  inter- 
fere were  it  not  for  the  possibility  that  we  may  be  in  time 
to  save  some  of  the  passengers  and  crew  of  the  merchant- 
man. She  must  be  a  vessel  of  some  size,  judging  from  the 
sound  of  her  guns.  Even  if  she  has  surrendered  before  we  get 
there,  and  we  find  that  we  are  in  any  way  a  match  for  the 
pirate,  we  might,  after  defeating  her,  save  at  least  some  of 
the  captives.  As  a  rule,  these  scoundrels,  when  all  opposition 
has  ceased,  confine  the  prisoners  in  the  hold,  and  after  empty- 
ing the  prize  of  everything  valuable,  scuttle  her,  and  of  course 
drown  all  on  board.  In  that  way  all  traces  of  their  crime  are 
lost,  whereas  if  they  killed  them  some  of  the  bodies  might 
float  inshore,  or  if  they  burnt  the  ship  the  smoke  might  bring 
down  any  cruiser  that  happened  to  be  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  on  board,  ladies." 

"  Oh,  do  not  think  of  us ! "  Madame  Pickard  exclaimed. 
"  After  the  wonderful  deliverance  that  we  have  had,  I  am  sure 
that  none  of  us  would  mind  any  risk  if  there  is  a  chance  of  sav- 
ing others  in  as  dire  peril  as  we  were." 


TWO  CAPTURES  289 

The  two  girls  and  Monsieur  Pickard  warmly  agreed. 
"  Please  put  us  altogether  out  of  consideration,"  the  latter 
said.  "  Even  if  we  knew  that  it  was  probable  we  should  all 
lose  our  lives  we  should  not  hesitate.  We  are  not,  I  hope, 
any  of  us,  afraid  of  death.  It  was  the  kind  of  death  that  we 
were  terrified  at." 

"  I  thank  you  all,"  Nat  said  gravely.  "  I  shall  not  fight 
unless  I  think  that  there  is  at  any  rate  a  fair  chance  of 
victory." 

On  going  on  deck  when  breakfast  was  finished,  Nat  ordered 
the  magazine  to  be  opened  and  ammunition  brought  up.  The 
wind  had  freshened  a  little,  and  the  schooner  was  going  faster 
through  the  water ;  and  in  three  quarters  of  an  hour  after  hear- 
ing the  first  gun  they  neared  the  promontory. 

"  I  am  afraid  it  is  all  over,"  Nat  said  to  the  ladies,  who  had 
also  come  on  deck ;  "  there  has  not  been  a  gun  fired  for  the 
past  two  or  three  minutes.  However,  we  shall  soon  see." 

On  rounding  the  point  they  saw  two  vessels  lying  side  by 
side,  a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  and  about  a  mile  from  shore. 
One  was  a  barque,  evidently  a  large  merchantman ;  the  other 
a  brigantine.  There  was  no  question  that  the  latter  was  a 
pirate,  and  the  other  her  prize.  The  sailors,  after  a  glance  at 
them,  turned  their  eyes  anxiously  towards  Nat  for  orders.  The 
latter  stood  quietly  examining  the  ships  through  his  glass. 

"  She  mounts  five  guns  a  side,  and  I  should  say  that  they 
are  about  the  same  weight  as  our  own,"  he  said  to  Turnbull ; 
"  and  from  the  men  swarming  on  her  deck  and  that  of  her 
prize  she  must  have  nearly,  if  not  quite,  three  times  our 
strength,  even  counting  the  Frenchmen  in." 

"  She  is  too  big  to  fight  squarely,  sir,"  Turnbull  reluctantly 
agreed.  "  I  am  afraid  she  is  altogether  too  tough  a  customer 
for  us ;  and  yet  one  hates  the  thought  of  leaving  them  to  com- 
plete their  devil's  work  on  their  prize." 


240  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"Yes,  we  can't  think  of  doing  that,  Mr.  Turnbull.  The  first 
thing  to  do  will  be  to  draw  them  off  from  her." 

"  But  they  would  be  sure  to  leave  some  of  their  men  in 
possession  of  her." 

"  Well,  if  they  do,  there  will  be  so  many  the  fewer  for  us  to 
fight.  We  are  within  a  mile  now,  I  should  say?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Then  train  the  two  forward  guns  on  them,  and  let  them  see 
that  we  mean  fighting." 

A  cheer  broke  from  the  sailors  clustered  round  the  guns  as 
Turnbull  gave  the  order. 

"  Now,  ladies,"  Nat  said,  "  you  can  stop  to  see  the  effect  of 
our  first  shot,  and  then  I  must  ask  you  to  go  down  on  to  the 
lower  deck.  Sam  will  show  you  the  way  and  take  some 
cushions  down  for  you ;  you  will  be  out  of  danger  there." 

As  he  spoke,  the  two  guns  which  were  already  loaded  were 
fired,  and  the  men  gave  a  cheer  as  two  white  patches  appeared 
on  the  side  of  the  brigantine. 

"Please  hurry  down,  ladies,"  Nat  said,  checking  the  entreaty 
which  he  saw  they  were  going  to  make.  "  It  won't  be  long 
before  they  answer  us." 

"  Give  them  another  round,  lads ! "  he  said,  as  they  reluctantly 
obeyed  his  orders.  "Get  them  in  if  you  can  before  he  is 
ready." 

Busy  as  they  were,  the  pirates  had  not  observed  the  schooner 
until  her  guns  were  fired.  With  shouts  of  alarm  they  ran  back 
to  their  own  ship,  but  these  were  succeeded  by  exclamations 
of  anger  and  surprise  when  they  saw  how  small  was  the  craft 
that  had  thus  intruded  into  the  affair.  By  the  captain's  orders 
twenty  of  the  crew,  under  his  first  mate,  returned  to  the  deck  of 
the  prize ;  a  portion  of  the  men  ran  to  the  guns,  others  threw 
off  the  grapnels  fastening  them  to  the  prize.  Before  they  were 
ready  to  fire,  two  more  shots  from  the  schooner  crashed  into 


TWO   CAPTURES  241 

the  brigantine,  one  passing  through  the  bulwarks,  killing  three 
men  and  wounding  several  others  with  the  splinters.  The  other 
struck  her  within  a  few  inches  of  the  water-line. 

The  schooner  at  once  bore  up,  discharging  the  guns  on  the 
starboard  side  as  she  came  round,  and  laying  her  course  as 
close  to  the  wind  as  she  could  be  jammed,  showed  her  stern  to 
the  pirate.  Two  of  his  guns  forward  were  fired,  others  could 
not  be  brought  to  bear.  The  Arrow  was  now  almost  retracing 
her  course,  for  the  wind  was  west-nor'-west,  and  she  could  just 
follow  the  line  of  coast. 

"  Here  they  come  after  us ! "  Turnbull  said,  rubbing  his 
hands,  "  as  savage  as  bees  whose  hive  has  been  disturbed." 

"Now,  Mr.  Turnbull,  get  the  two  guns  right  aft,  so  as  to 
fire  over  the  taffrail.  We  must  see  if  we  cannot  knock  some 
of  her  spars  away.  As  soon  as  you  have  moved  the  guns  let 
all  hands,  except  those  serving  them,  go  forward  and  lie  down 
there.  The  weight  of  the  guns  will  put  her  rather  by  the 
stern,  and  I  don't  want  to  let  that  fellow  come  any  nearer  to 
us.  She  is  in  her  best  trim  now." 

As  soon  as  the  guns  were  ready  they  opened  fire.  The 
brigantine  answered  with  her  bow-chaser,  but,  as  she  was 
obliged  to  yaw  each  time  she  brought  it  to  bear,  she  presently 
ceased  firing. 

"  We  are  gaining  on  her,  sir,"  Lippincott  said,  as  he  watched 
the  pirate  through  his  glass. 

"  Yes,  and  sailing  fully  a  point  nearer  to  the  wind  than  she 
does.  Get  a  stay-sail  fastened  to  a  rope,  and  drop  it  over  close 
to  the  bow.  I  don't  want  to  run  away  from  her.  If  she  found 
that  we  were  too  fast  for  her  she  would  give  up  the  chase,  and 
go  back  to  the  prize.  I  want  her  to  gain  just  enough  to 
encourage  her  to  keep  on.  She  is  a  fast  craft,  but  we  are 
faster.  We  shall  be  able  to  manage  her,  providing  she  does 
not  knock  away  any  of  our  spars." 

16 


242  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

The  start  the  schooner  had  made  had  at  first  widened  the 
distance  between  them,  and  there  was  now  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
of  water  separating  them.  The  brigantine  was  hulled  several 
times  and  her  sails  pierced,  but  her  spars  were  still  intact. 
She  was  permitted  to  gain  until  she  was  little  more  than 
half  a  mile  astern,  but  the  schooner  had  weathered  on  her,  and 
was  now  nearly  half  a  mile  to  windward. 

"  If  we  had  an  open  sea  on  this  side  instead  of  the  land," 
Turnbull  said,  "  and  were  to  cut  away  that  sail,  they  would  not 
see  us  again." 

"  No ;  they  must  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion.  As 
it  is,  they  no  doubt  think  that  our  clawing  out  to  windward 
is  of  no  advantage  to  us.  Now,  get  another  gun  over  to  the 
larboard  side.  It  is  lucky  that  there  is  a  spare  port  there. 
We  must  make  an  effort  to  knock  one  of  his  spars  out,  or  he 
may  cripple  us."  For  by  this  time  the  brigantine  had  again 
opened  fire.  "  Let  the  three  best  shots  we  have  got  lay  the 
guns  on  her  mainmast.  Tell  them  to  train  them  rather  high, 
so  that  if  they  miss  the  mark  they  may  cut  one  of  the  hal- 
yards, which  will  give  us  all  the  start  we  want." 

The  guns  were  run  into  their  position  on  the  broadside. 
"Don't  hurry  over  it,"  Nat  said;  "let  each  fire  as  his  gun 
comes  to  bear."  There  was  a  crash  and  a  cry  as  he  spoke ; 
a  ball  had  gone  through  the  Arrow  from  side  to  side,  tearing 
jagged  holes  through  her  bulwarks,  one  of  the  sailors  being 
struck  to  the  deck  by  a  splinter.  No  one  spoke,  every  eye 
being  fixed  on  the  guns.  These  were  fired  almost  together. 
There  was  a  pause  for  a  second  or  two,  and  then  a  burst  of 
cheering  as  the  gaff  of  the  great  mainsail  of  the  brigantine  was 
seen  to  collapse. 

"  It  is  hit  close  to  the  jaws,"  Turnbull,  whose  glass  was 
levelled  on  the  pirates,  exclaimed. 

"Cut  away  that  sail  in  the  water  1"  Nat  shouted.    "Up 


TWO   CAPTURES  243 

with  your  helm,  men,  and  bring  her  round.  That  is  right," 
he  went  on  as  the  schooner  came  up  into  the  wind  and  payed 
off  on  the  other  tack.  "  Now,  slack  away  her  sheets  !  " 

Three  guns  were  vengefully  fired  by  the  pirate,  but  the  sudden 
change  in  the  schooner's  position  disconcerted  their  aim,  and 
the  shot  flew  wide.  Without  waiting  for  orders,  the  seamen  at 
two  of  the  guns  ran  them  over  to  the  starboard  side,  and,  all 
working  at  the  highest  pressure,  poured  shot  after  shot  into 
the  brigantine,  which  answered  but  slowly,  as  numbers  of  the 
men  had  run  aloft  to  get  the  sail  down  to  repair  damages. 
Before  she  was  under  way  again  the  schooner  had  left  her  a 
mile  behind.  She  was  now  on  her  best  point  of  sailing,  while 
the  brigantine  was  to  some  extent  crippled  by  the  mainsail 
setting  badly,  and  by  the  time  the  headland  was  again  passed 
the  schooner  was  fully  two  miles  ahead.  Her  crew  had  for 
some  time  been  puzzled  at  the  action  being  so  abruptly 
concluded,  and  Turnbull  had  even  ventured  to  say : 

"  I  should  think,  sir,  we  should  have  a  fair  chance  with  her 
now." 

"  Not  a  very  good  chance.  We  have  been  lucky,  but  with 
ten  guns  to  our  four,  and  her  strong  crew  of  desperate  men, 
she  would  be  a  very  awkward  customer.  We  can  think  of 
her  later  on.  My  plan  is  to  retake  the  prize  before  she  can 
come  up.  It  is  not  likely  that  they  have  killed  the  crew  yet, 
and  I  expect  the  captain  told  those  left  behind  to  leave  things 
as  they  were  until  he  returned.  We  may  scarcely  be  a  match 
for  the  brigantine,  but  the  prize  and  we  together  should  be  able 
to  give  a  good  account  of  ourselves." 

"  Splendid,  sir  ! "  Turnbull  exclaimed  joyously ;  "  that  is  a 
grand  idea." 

"  Have  the  guns  loaded  with  grape,"  Nat  said  quietly,  "and 
run  two  of  them  over  to  the  other  side.  We  will  go  outside 
the  prize,  bring  our  craft  up  into  the  wind,  and  shoot  her  up 


244  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

inside  her,  and  give  them  one  broadside  and  then  board. 
Tell  the  men  to  have  their  pistols  and  cutlasses  ready,  and 
distribute  the  boarding-pikes  among  the  Frenchmen." 

As  soon  as  they  rounded  the  point  they  could  see  by  their 
glasses  that  there  was  a  sudden  commotion  on  the  deck  of  the 
merchantman. 

"They  did  not  expect  to  see  us  back  first,"  Lippincott 
laughed. 

"  Even  now,  I  should  think,  they  are  expecting  to  see  the 
brigantine  close  behind  us  in  chase,  and  don't  suspect  what 
we  are  up  to.  Don't  head  straight  for  her,"  he  said  to  the 
helmsman,  "take  us  a  couple  of  lengths  outside  her." 

The  pirates,  indeed,  were  completely  deceived,  but  when  at 
last  they  saw  that  the  brigantine  did  not  appear,  they  ran  over 
to  the  guns.  It  was,  however,  too  late.  Two  or  three  of  these 
were  discharged  as  the  schooner  passed,  but  beyond  making 
holes  in  her  sails  no  damage  was  done,  and  one  of  the  schooner's 
guns  poured  in  a  volley  of  grape.  When  she  was  two  or  three 
lengths  ahead  her  helm  was  put  hard  down.  She  flew  round 
and  just  caught  the  wind  on  the  other  tack,  gliding  up  along- 
side the  merchantman,  the  three  guns  being  discharged  in 
succession  as  the  two  vessels  touched. 

The  grapnels  were  thrown,  and  the  sailors  and  Frenchmen 
leapt  on  to  her  deck  headed  by  the  three  officers.  Nearly  half 
the  pirates  had  been  killed  or  wounded  by  the  four  discharges  of 
grape.  The  remainder  made  but  a  poor  fight  of  it,  and  were 
cut  down  to  a  man. 

"  Off  with  the  hatches,  men !  "  Nat  shouted.  "  Run  down 
and  release  the  crew." 

He  himself  ran  aft  into  the  saloon.  Here  six  gentlemen 
and  eight  or  ten  ladies  were  lying  bound  hand  and  foot. 
Several  of  the  men  were  wounded.  Nat  at  once  cut  the 
cords. 


'THE    CAPTAIN    OF    THE    PIRATES    SHOOK    HIS    FIST   IN    DEFIANCE.' 


TWO  CAPTURES  245 

"  You  are  safe,"  he  said.  "  The  ship  has  been  retaken  by 
his  majesty's  schooner  Arrow,  but  we  have  not  done  witH  the 
brigantine  yet,  and  any  of  you  who  have  weapons  and  can  use 
them  may  lend  a  hand." 

Without  waiting  to  listen  to  the  chorus  of  cries  of  gratitude, 
he  ran  out  again.  A  minute  later  a  number  of  seamen  poured 
up  on  deck.  Many  of  them  were  wounded. 

"  How  many  are  there  of  you?  "  he  asked  an  officer  among 
them. 

"There  are  thirty  of  us,"  he  said;  "we  had  lost  nearly  half 
our  crew  before  they  boarded  us.  The  captain  was  killed 
early  in  the  fight,  as  was  the  first  officer." 

"  Well,  sir,  set  your  men  to  load  the  guns  at  once.  There  is 
the  brigantine  just  coming  round  the  point.  Monsieur  Pickard, 
will  you  remain  here  with  your  party  and  help  the  sailors? 
Get  your  sails  sheeted  home,  sir ! "  he  went  on  to  the  ship's 
officer.  "Is  your  vessel  a  fast  one?" 

"  Yes,  but  she  is  not  so  fast  as  that  brigantine." 

"  That  is  of  no  consequence,"  Nat  said.  "  Get  every  sail  you 
can  on  her.  Now  get  twenty  of  our  men  on  board  again, 
Mr.  Lippincott,  and  on  second  thoughts  I  will  take  five  of  the 
Frenchmen.  Mr.  Turnbull,  you  will  remain  on  board  in  com- 
mand of  this  ship  with  the  other  five  of  our  men.  My  endeavour 
will  be  to  knock  away  one  of  her  masts.  Do  you  keep  as  close 
as  you  can  to  us,  and  we  will  board  her  together,  one  on 
each  side.  If  she  knocks  away  one  of  our  spars,  I  shall  as  far 
as  possible  come  back  to  meet  you,  and  if  she  follows  us 
we  will  fight  her  together." 

"  I  understand,  sir." 

"  The  moment  we  push  off,  get  your  head  sails  aback  and 
put  her  on  the  wind  so  as  to  get  out  of  our  way.  I  shall 
fill  her  off  on  the  other  tack  and  then  come  round  and  join 
you.  We  will  keep  together  until  we  see  whether  she  means 


246  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

to  fight  or  run.  Remember,  the  great  thing  is  to  knock  a  spar 
out  of  her." 

So  saying,  he  leapt  on  to  the  deck  of  the  schooner,  and  Turn- 
bull's  voice  was  at  once  heard  shouting  the  order,  "  Haul  aft 
the  weather  sheets  of  the  jibs ; "  and  in  a  minute  the  two  vessels 
were  gliding  away  from  each  other  on  opposite  tacks.  Then 
the  Arrow  was  brought  round  and  followed  the  Thames,  which 
was  the  name  of  the  merchantman.  The  brigantine  was  now 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  away.  Suddenly  she  was  seen  to 
change  her  course.  As  she  wore  round  she  presented  her 
broadside  to  the  two  vessels,  and  her  five  guns  puffed  out 
together.  The  reply,  both  from  the  merchantman  and  the 
Arrow,  followed  almost  simultaneously,  and  a  cheer  rang  out 
from  both  ships  as  the  pirate's  bowsprit  was  seen  to  snap  off. 

"  Place  yourself  two  or  three  cables'  length  from  his  larboard 
quarter,"  Nat  shouted. 

Turnbull,  who  had  leapt  on  to  the  rail  to  see  the  result  of 
the  broadside,  waved  his  hand. 

"  Down  topsails ! "  Nat  shouted,  "  she  will  be  handier  without 
them." 

In  a  moment  the  two  great  sails  came  fluttering  down. 
Tumbull  followed  the  example,  and  the  men  ran  up  the  ratlines 
and  furled  some  of  the  upper  sails.  Deprived  of  her  head 
sails,  the  pirate  was  unmanageable,  and  the  two  vessels  speedily 
ran  up  and  laid  themselves  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  from 
his  quarters  and  opened  a  steady  fire.  The  pirates  endeavoured 
to  drag  two  of  their  guns  right  aft,  but  the  volleys  of  grape 
poured  into  them  were  too  much  for  them,  and  although  their 
captain  was  seen  to  shoot  two  of  the  men,  the  rest  ran  forward. 
The  helmsman  deserted  his  now  useless  post 

Give  her  one  more  broadside,"  Nat  shouted  to  Turnbull, 
"  and  then  run  in  and  board." 

The  captain  of  the  pirates,  mad  with  rage,  leapt  on  to  the 


TWO   CAPTURES  ,  247 

taffrail  and  shook  his  fist  in  defiance.  At  that  moment  two 
rifles  cracked  out  from  the  merchantman,  and  he  fell  forward 
into  the  sea.  The  effect  of  the  storm  of  grape  from  the  three 
guns  of  the  schooner,  and  the  four  from  the  trader,  among  the 
men  huddled  up  in  the  bow  of  the  pirate  was  terrible,  but 
knowing  that  their  lives  were  forfeited  if  they  were  taken 
prisoners,  none  made  a  movement  aft  to  haul  down  the  black 
flag  that  still  floated  from  the  peak.  In  two  or  three  minutes 
their  antagonists  were  alongside ;  a  volley  of  musketry  was 
poured  in,  and  "then  the  crews  of  both  ships  leapt  on  to  the 
deck.  The  pirates,  who  were  now  reduced  to  about  thirty 
men,  rushed  to  meet  them,  determining  to  sell  their  lives  dearly. 
But  the  odds  were  against  them  ;  they  missed  the  voice  of  their 
captain  to  encourage  them,  and  when  twenty  of  their  number 
had  fallen,  the  remainder  threw  down  their  arms. 

"  Let  no  man  stir  a  foot  to  go  below,"  Nat  shouted,  remem- 
bering the  explosion  in  the  pirate's  hold,  and  fearing  that  one 
of  them  might  make  straight  for  the  magazine.  He  had  not 
used  his  pistols  in  the  fight,  and  now  stood  with  one  in  each 
hand  pointing  threateningly  to  enforce  the  order. 

"  Mr.  Lippincott,  take  four  men  below  and  close  and  securely 
fasten  the  magazine." 

The  middy  ran  down,  and  returned  in  two  or  three  minutes 
to  report  that  he  had  executed  the  order. 

"Tie  those  fellows'  feet  and  hands,"  Nat  said,  "and  carry 
them  down  into  the  hold." 

When  this  was  done  he  was  able  to  look  round.  The  deck 
was  a  perfect  shambles.  The  brigantine,  as  he  afterwards  heard, 
carried  originally  eighty  hands.  Ten  of  these  had  been  either 
killed  or  seriously  wounded  in  the  fight  with  the  Thames,  and 
twenty  had  been  killed  on  board  that  barque  when  she  was  re- 
taken. Forty  lay  dead  or  dying  on  the  deck.  One  of  the  French- 
men had  fallen,  six  of  the  sailors  and  three  Frenchmen  had 


248  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

been  severely  wounded,  Turnbull  somewhat  seriously  wounded, 
and  Lippincott  slightly.  Monsieur  Pickard,  and  the  male  pas- 
sengers on  board  the  Thames,  had  all  joined  the  boarders. 

Two  of  them  had  previously  done  good  service  with  their 
rifles.  Had  not  the  pirate  leader  been  killed,  the  fight  would 
have  been  even  more  desperate.  One  of  the  passengers  was, 
fortunately,  a  surgeon.  He  at  once  set  to  work  attending  to 
the  sailors'  wounds,  and  after  he  had  bandaged  them  he  exam- 
ined those  of  the  pirates.  These  had  for  the  most  part  been 
killed  outright,  and  of  the  wounded  there  were  but  four  or  five 
with  any  prospect  of  recovery.  These  he  first  attended  to,  while 
the  other  passengers  carried  water  to  the  dying  men. 

" Now,  my  lads,"  Nat  said,  "clear  the  decks  of  the  dead,  and 
get  up  an  awning  and  carry  those  who  are  alive  into  the  shade." 

All  the  dead  pirates  were  thrown  over  without  ceremony, 
the  body  of  the  Frenchman  being  laid  down  by  his  compatriots 
by  one  of  the  guns  for  proper  burial  in  the  evening.  As  soon 
as  the  fight  was  over,  Monsieur  Pickard  —  who,  after  the  capture 
of  the  Thames^  had  gone  below  to  assure  his  wife  and  daughters 
that  all  was  going  on  well,  and  that  they  had  saved  nine  ladies 
and  six  gentlemen  from  the  hands  of  the  pirates  —  hurried  down 
with  the  welcome  news  that  the  fight  was  over  and  the  brigan- 
tine  captured. 

"  You  can  go  up  to  the  cabin,"  he  said,  "  but  don't  come  on 
deck  till  I  come  down  and  tell  you  that  everything  has  been 
made  clean  and  tidy.  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that,  although 
we  have  several  wounded,  Francois  Amond  is  the  only  man  that 
has  been  killed." 

One  of  the  passengers  of  the  Thames  had  carried  similar 
news  to  the  ladies  there.  The  crews  of  both  were  at  once 
set  to  work  to  wash  decks,  and  in  an  hour  the  holy-stones 
had  obliterated  the  worst  signs  of  the  conflict,  though  it  would 
require  many  more  scrubbings  before  the  stains  of  blood  en- 


TWO   CAPTURES  249 

tirely  disappeared.  All  this  time  the  vessels  had  remained  side 
by  side,  and  the  ladies  now  ventured  on  to  the  decks  of  the 
Thames  and  Arrow. 

"  What  do  you  intend  to  do,  sir  ? "  one  of  the  passengers 
asked  Nat. 

"  I  shall  sail  at  once  for  Jamaica,"  he  said.  "  We  shall  want 
some  more  hands,  and  I  must  at  present  borrow  a  few  from 
you,  for  my  own  men  are  not  sufficiently  strong  to  navigate  my 
own  craft  and  the  prize.  The  wind  is  favourable,  and  if  it  holds 
as  it  is  we  shall  be  at  Kingston  in  forty-eight  hours,  so  there 
will  be  no  great  loss  of  time." 

He  then  crossed  to  the  Arrow. 

"  I  must  congratulate  you  most  heartily  on  your  success," 
Madame  Pickard  said.  "  It  is  wonderful  indeed  that  you 
should  have  taken  both  these  vessels.  The  pirate  ship  is,  I 
should  think,  three  times  as  big  as  you  are,  and  the  other  looks 
a  giant  by  her  side." 

"Yes,  she  is  six  hundred  tons,  and  the  brigantine  is  about 
three  hundred.  However,  it  has  all  gone  very  fortunately. 
In  the  first  place,  we  have  rescued  some  fifteen  gentlemen  and 
ladies,  and  twice  as  many  seamen,  from  the  death  that  they 
would  certainly  have  met  with ;  and  in  the  next  place,  we  have 
thrashed  this  pirate  ;  we  shall  get  both  credit  and  prize-money, 
and  a  good  sum  for  the  recapture  of  the  Thames,  which  the 
chief  officer  has  just  told  me  carries  a  very  valuable  cargo. 
Lastly,  I  am  happy  to  say  that,  although  several  of  the  crew 
are  injured,  I  have  not  lost  a  single  life  among  them.  I  am 
sorry  that  one  of  your  men  fell  in  the  fight." 

"  But  they  have  sadly  spoiled  the  appearance  of  your  ship," 
Valerie  Pickard  said.  "  There  are  three  or  four  great  holes 
along  the  side,  and  a  ball  has  gone  through  your  cabin,  and  the 
sails,  which  were  so  white  and  pretty,  have  lots  of  holes  in 
them." 


250  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  Yes,  we  shall  want  a  good  many  new  cloths,"  he  said ;  "  but 
that  is  a  very  minor  matter." 

"  Monsieur  Turnbull  is  hurt,  I  hear !  " 

"  Yes,  madame ;  happily  it  is  not  very  serious  —  a  blow  which 
he  only  partly  parried  struck  him  on  the  shoulder.  It  looks  a 
very  serious  wound,  but  the  doctor  says  there  is  no  need  for 
any  great  uneasiness  about  him ;  and  being  seriously  wounded 
in  action  has  its  advantages,  as  it  always  counts  towards 
promotion.  Mr.  Lippincott  has  had  one  of  his  ears  nearly 
slashed  off,  and  is  not  pretty  to  look  at  at  present,  with  his 
head  done  up  in  bandages,  but  the  surgeon  thinks  that,  as  it 
was  attended  to  so  soon,  it  is  likely  that  it  will  heal  up." 

"And  you  have  escaped  altogether,  Monsieur  Glover?" 
Louise  said. 

"  Yes,  for  once  I  have  had  good  luck.  Hitherto  I  have  always 
come  out  of  a  fight  more  or  less  damaged ;  this  time  I  have 
escaped  without  a  scratch." 

"  I  should  feel  very  proud  if  I  were  you,"  the  girl  said,  "at 
having  done  so  much  with  such  a  small  ship  —  and  you  so  young, 
too !  Why,  you  do  not  look  more  than  a  year  or  two  older 
than  Valerie,  and  you  have  rescued  us  and  all  the  people  on 
the  other  ship,  and  taken  a  pirate  and  the  vessel  they  had 
captured.  It  seems  almost  impossible.  And  you  look  so  quiet 
and  nice,  too." 

"  Louise,  you  should  not  talk  like  that,"  her  mother  corrected. 

Nat  said  gravely : 

"  Mademoiselle,  do  you  know  that  you  are  talking  to  the 
commander  of  one  of  his  majesty's  ships  on  his  own  quarter- 
deck, where  he  is,  as  it  were,  the  monarch  of  all  he  surveys, 
and  might  inflict  all  sorts  of  terrible  punishments  upon  you  for 
your  want  of  respect?  " 

The  girl  laughed  merrily. 

"I  am  not  afraid,"  she  said,  "not  one  little  bit,  and  I  don't 


TWO  CAPTURES  251 

see  why  you  should  mind  being  told  that  you  are  young  and 
quiet-looking  and  nice,  when  you  are." 

"  I  do  not  mind  hi  the  least,"  he  said,  "  and  certainly  I  am 
young ;  but  I  can  assure  you  that  my  former  captain  would 
not  tell  you  that  I  was  quiet,  for  I  had  the  reputation  of  being 
the  most  troublesome  middy  on  board  his  frigate.  But,  you 
see,  responsibility  has  sobered  me,  and  I  can  assure  you  that 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  responsibility  in  commanding  a  small 
craft  like  this,  which  has  nothing  but  her  speed  and  her  luck  to 
rely  on  if  she  happens  to  fall  in  with  a  strongly-armed  vessel." 

"  How  can  you  say  that,  monsieur,"  Valerie  said  indignantly, 
"when  you  have  taken  this  pirate,  which  is  ever  so  much 
stronger  than  you  are?" 

"  There  may  be  a  little  good  management  in  it,  but  more 
luck,  mademoiselle.  If  one  of  his  shot  had  damaged  me  in- 
stead of  one  of  mine  damaging  him,  we  should  all  have  had 
our  throats  cut  two  hours  ago." 

"  I  don't  believe  it,"  she  said.  "  I  believe  that  you  would 
have  beaten  him  anyhow." 

"  Ladies  very  often  think  what  they  wish,"  he  said  with  a 
laugh,  "  and  no  doubt  we  should  have  fought  to  the  last ;  but 
I  can  assure  you  that  we  should  have  had  no  chance  with 
them,  and  the  best  I  could  have  done  for  you  would  have  been 
to  have  fired  the  last  shot  of  my  pistol  into  the  magazine." 

"  Please  don't  talk  about  it,"  Madame  Pickard  said  with  a 
shudder.  "And  now  I  suppose  that  you  have  had  fighting 
enough,  and  are  going  to  carry  us  quietly  into  port?" 

"  Yes,  madame,  to  Jamaica ;  but  if  you  would  prefer  to  be 
landed  at  Cape  Francois  or  Port-au-Prince  I  shall  be  happy 
to  give  you  a  passage  back  again." 

"  We  do  not  want  to  go  there  at  all,  but  my  husband  will 
go  to  wind  up  his  affairs,  and  sell  his  house  there.  We  have 
been  talking  it  over,  and  agree  that  we  should  never  like  to 


252  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

go  back  to  the  estate  again.  Even  if  things  did  quiet  down 
the  memories  are  too  terrible ;  and,  besides,  having  once  broken 
out,  the  blacks  might  do  so  again  at  any  time." 

"  I  think  you  are  perfectly  right,  madame ;  but  I  am  afraid 
you  will  not  get  much  for  your  estate." 

"  My  husband  thinks  that,  although  no  white  man  would 
buy  it,  there  are  plenty  of  niulattoes  who  would  give,  not  its 
real  value,  but  a  certain  amount,  for  it.  Many  of  them  are 
rich  men  who  have  already  large  plantations.  Ours  was  one 
of  the  most  valuable  on  the  island,  and  with  the  title  from  us 
a  purchaser  would  not  be  afraid  of  being  disturbed  when  the 
soldiers  arrive  and  put  down  the  insurrection ;  while,  even  if 
this  should  never  be  done,  the  negroes,  with  whom  the  mulat- 
toes  are  now  friends,  would  not  interfere  with  him.  My  hus- 
band thinks  that  perhaps  he  will  get  a  third  of  its  value,  which 
would  be  sufficient  to  keep  us  all  comfortably  in  France,  or 
wherever  we  may  settle  ;  but  our  best  resource  is  that  we  have 
the  whole  of  last  season's  produce  stored  in  our  magazines  at 
Port-au-Prince." 

It  was  not  until  the  next  afternoon  that  the  absolutely 
necessary  repairs  to  the  three  vessels  were  completed,  the 
holes  near  the  water-line  covered  by  planks  over  which  pitched 
canvas  was  nailed,  the  ropes  shot  away  replaced  by  new  ones, 
and  the  brigantine's  gaff  repaired.  Then  sail  was  hoisted 
again,  and  the  three  vessels  set  sail  for  Kingston,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  after  starting.  No 
little  excitement  was  caused  in  the  harbour  when  the  Arrow, 
with  her  sails  and  sides  bearing  marks  of  the  engagement, 
sailed  in,  followed  by  the  brigantine  flying  the  British  ensign 
over  the  black  flag,  and  the  Thames  with  the  same  flags,  but 
with  the  addition  of  the  merchant  ensign  under  the  black  flag, 
following  her.  There  were  two  or  three  ships  of  war  in  the 
port,  and  the  crews  saluted  the  Arrow  with  hearty  cheers. 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE 

The  flag-ship  at  once  ran  up  the  signal  for  her  commander 
to  come  on  board,  and,  leaving  Lippincott  to  see  to  the  oper- 
ation of  anchoring,  Nat  ordered  the  gig  to  be  lowered,  and, 
taking  his  place  in  it,  was  rowed  to  the  flag-ship. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  ATTACK   ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE 

ON  mounting  to  the  deck  Nat  was  at  once  taken  to  the 
admiral's  cabin. 

"  So  you  have  been  disobeying  orders,  Lieutenant  Glover," 
he  said  gravely. 

"  I  hope  not,  sir.     I  am  not  conscious  of  disobeying  orders." 

"I  fancy  you  were  directed  not  to  engage  more  heavily- 
armed  craft  than  your  own." 

"  I  was,  sir,  but  the  circumstances  were  peculiar." 

"  I  never  knew  a  midshipman  or  a  young  lieutenant,  Mr. 
Glover,  who  did  not  find  the  circumstances  peculiar  when  he 
wanted  to  disobey  orders.  However,"  he  added  with  a  smile, 
"  let  me  hear  the  peculiar  circumstances,  then  I  shall  be  able 
to  judge  how  far  you  were  justified.  Give  them  in  full. 
Have  you  a  written  report  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  have  brought  it  with  me,"  Nat  said,  producing 
the  document. 

"  Well,  lay  it  down  on  the  table.  I  don't  suppose  it  is  very 
full,  and  I  am  somewhat  curious  to  hear  how  you  brought  in 
a  pirate  brigantine  and  a  recaptured  merchantman  —  so  I 
understood  your  flags." 

Nat  related  how  he  had  heard  the  sound  of  guns  on  round- 
ing a  headland,  and  had  seen  the  brigantine  lying  by  the  side 
of  the  barque  she  had  evidently  just  captured ;  how  he  drew 


254  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

her  off  in  pursuit  of  the  schooner,  partially  crippled  her, 
returned  and  retook  the  Thames^  released  her  crew,  placed  Mr. 
Turnbull  in  command,  and  how,  between  them,  they  had 
captured  the  brigantine. 

"  A  very  smart  action,"  the  admiral  said  cordially  when  he 
had  brought  the  narrative  to  a  conclusion.  "  It  does  you  very 
great  credit,  and  fully  justifies  my  appointing  you  to  an  inde- 
pendent command.  What  metal  does  the  brigantine  carry  ?  " 

"  Five  guns  each  side,  all  twelve-pounders  like  my  own." 

"  And  you  have  only  four  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Very  good  indeed,  very  good !  By  the  way,  do  you  know 
any  of  the  passengers  on  board  the  Thames  personally?  I 
observed  three  ladies  on  the  deck  as  you  came  in.  I  should 
have  thought  that  they  would  have  had  very  much  better 
accommodation  on  the  trader  than  on  board  your  little  craft." 

"Yes,  sir;  but  they  were  on  board  the  Arrow  before  our 
fight  with  the  brigantine,  and  although  the  first  mate  of  the 
Thames  offered  them  a  state  cabin  they  preferred  to  stay  on 
board,  as  it  was  such  a  short  run  here." 

"Who  are  they,  then?" 

"They  are  refugees,  sir.  I  got  them  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  negroes  —  three  ladies,  the  husband  of  the  elder  one,  and 
seven  other  white  men." 

"  Is  there  any  story  attached  to  it,  Mr.  Glover?  Let  me 
see,  what  do  you  say  about  it  in  your  report?"  and  he  opened 
it  and  read  aloud : 

/  have  the  honour,  sir,  to  report  that,  learning  there  was  a  -white 

family  in  the  hands  of  the  negroes,  I  landed  with  a  party  and 

brought  them  off.     They  consisted  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  Pick- 

ard  and  their  two  daughters,  and  seven  of  their  white  employees. 

Casualties  —  eight  seamen  wounded,  none  of  them  seriously. 


THE  ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  255 

"  Then  comes  the  account  of  the  other  affair.  Now,  please 
give  me  the  details  of  this  rescue  business  as  minutely  as 
possible." 

This  Nat  did. 

"  A  very  risky  business,  Mr.  Glover,  though  I  don't  see 
how  you  could  have  acted  in  any  other  way.  No  British 
officer,  I  hope,  could  have  been  deaf  to  such  an  appeal ;  but  if 
those  boats  had  found  the  schooner  when  you  all  were  away, 
your  position  would  have  been  well-nigh  desperate." 

"  It  would,  sir,  I  quite  felt  that,  but  it  seemed  to  me  the 
only  possible  thing  to  do.  Of  course,  if  I  had  known  that  the 
boats  would  have  come  early  in  the  evening,  I  should  have 
remained  on  board  and  beat  them  off  before  making  a  landing, 
although  our  chances  of  success  would  then  have  been  much 
smaller.  The  party  who  were  to  attack  in  the  boats  were  to  have 
been  composed  of  men  from  the  plantation.  Their  comrades 
would  doubtless  have  come  down  to  the  shore  to  see  us  captured, 
and  when  they  saw  their  friends  beaten  off  they  would  have 
been  on  the  watch,  and  not  improbably,  in  their  fury  and 
disappointment,  have  massacred  all  the  captives  in  their  hands 
at  once.  But  I  thought  it  likely  that  the  boats  would  not  put 
off  before  they  believed  us  to  be  asleep,  and  that  I  should  there- 
fore have  time  to  go  up  to  the  plantation  and  fetch  the  cap- 
tives down  before  they  arrived.  At  any  rate,  by  moving  the 
schooner  close  inshore  I  hoped  that  the  boats  might  not  find 
her.  There  was  no  moon,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  rock 
it  was  next  to  impossible  to  see  her,  unless  a  boat  happened 
to  pass  within  a  few  paces.  Having  struck  the  topmasts,  the 
forest  behind  on  steep  ground  prevented  the  masts  from 
showing  above  the  sky-line.  It  was,  of  course,  the  choice  of 
two  evils,  and  I  took  the  one  that  seemed  to  me  to  give  the 
greater  promise  of  success." 

"  You  did  excellently,  the  oldest  officer  in  the  service  could 


256  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

not  have  done  better.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  write 
as  full  and  detailed  an  account  of  both  affairs  as  you  have 
given  me.  I  shall  send  it  home  with  your  official  report,  and 
with  my  own  remarks  upon  them.  And  now  about  the  mer- 
chantman ;  she  looks  a  fine  barque.  What  is  her  tonnage  ?  " 

"  Six  hundred  tons,  sir.  She  is  a  nearly  new  vessel,  and 
sails  fast  for  a  ship  of  that  kind.  Her  first  mate  told  me  that 
she  has  a  very  valuable  cargo  on  board,  principally,  I  think, 
tobacco,  sugar,  coffee,  wax,  copper,  mahogany,  and  cedar  from 
Cuba.  Her  passengers  are  all  Spanish." 

"  She  seems  to  be  a  valuable  prize,  and  as  recaptured  from 
the  pirates  there  will  be  a  handsome  sum  to  be  divided,  and 
it  is  fortunate  for  you  and  your  officers  that  the  little  craft  was 
commissioned  independently,  not  as  a  tender  to  one  of  the 
frigates.  As  it  is,  except  the  flag's  share,  it  will  all  fall  to  your- 
selves and  your  crew.  How  many  men  have  you  lost  ?  " 

"  None  at  all,  sir;  though,  as  you  will  see  by  my  report,  in 
the  two  affairs  the  greater  part  of  them  received  more  or  less 
severe  wounds.  Mr.  Turnbull  was  somewhat  severely  wounded, 
Mr.  Lippincott  nearly  lost  an  ear,  and  I  escaped  altogether." 

"  Well,  it  was  your  turn,  Lieutenant  Glover.  You  have  come 
back  three  times  more  or  less  severely  hurt  already.  You  say 
that  the  brigantine  is  fast?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  She  is  not  so  fast  as  the  schooner  in  a  light  wind, 
nor  so  weatherly,  but  in  anything  like  strong  winds  I  have  no 
doubt  that  she  would  overhaul  us." 

"  Was  there  anything  in  her  hold?" 

"There  are  a  good  many  bales  and  cases,  sir.  I  have  not 
opened  them,  but  by  their  marks  they  come  from  three  different 
ships,  which  she  had  no  doubt  captured  and  sunk  before  we 
fell  in  with  her.  I  questioned  one  of  the  prisoners,  and  he 
told  me  that  it  was  only  a  month  since  she  came  out,  and  he 
declared  that  they  had  not  yet  chosen  any  place  as  their  head- 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  257 

quarters.    As  others  questioned  separately  told  the  same  story,  I 
imagine  that  it  was  true." 

"  Where  did  she  hail  from?" 

"  She  came  from  Bordeaux.  They  said  that  she  had  taken 
out  letters  of  marque  to  act  as  a  privateer  in  case  of  war  break- 
ing out  with  us,  but  I  fancy  that  she  was  from  the  first  intended 
for  a  pirate,  for  it  seems  that  she  had  only  forty  hands  when 
she  started,  and  picked  up  the  others  at  various  French  ports 
at  which  she  touched  before  sailing  west.  I  should  say,  from 
the  appearance  of  her  crew,  that  they  are  composed  of  the 
sweepings  of  the  ports,  for  a  more  villainous  set  of  rascals  I 
never  saw." 

"  Well,  it  is  fortunate  that  you  should  have  stopped  their 
career  so  soon.  She  might  have  given  us  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  before  we  laid  hands  on  her.  We  have  had  com- 
paratively quiet  times  since  the  Orpheus  destroyed  that  nest 
of  them,  and  if  she  had  confined  her  work  to  homeward- 
bound  ships  it  might  have  been  months  before  we  had 
complaints  from  home,  and  found  that  there  was  another  of 
these  scourges  among  the  islands.  I  shall  row  around  pres- 
ently, Mr.  Glover,  and  have  a  look  at  your  two  prizes.  When 
you  see  my  gig  coming  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  meet  me 
on  the  deck  of  the  brigantine." 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  watch  on  deck  reported 
that  the  admiral's  gig  was  being  lowered,  and  Nat  immediately 
got  into  his  own  boat  and  was  rowed  to  the  brigantine,  whose 
name  was  the  Agile.  When  the  admiral  approached,  instead 
of  making  straight  for  the  accommodation  ladder,  he  rowed 
slowly  round  the  vessel,  making  a  very  careful  examination  of 
the  hull.  When  he  came  on  deck,  he  said : 

"  Except  for  a  few  shot  that  hit  her  low  down,  and  the 
general  destruction  of  her  bulwarks,  no  damage  has  been  done 
to  her." 

17 


258  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  No,  sir,  we  aimed  high,  our  great  object  being  to  knock 
away  some  of  her  spars.  I  don't  think  that  her  square  sails 
will  be  of  any  use  in  the  future,  they  are  riddled  with  balls 
from  our  stern-chasers." 

"  A  new  gaff  and  bowsprit,  a  new  suit  of  sails,  new  bulwarks, 
and  a  few  patches,  and  she  would  be  as  good  as  ever.  What 
damage  have  you  suffered  ?  " 

"The  schooner  has  half  a  dozen  holes  in  her  bow,  sir,  and  a 
dozen  or  so  in  her  sails,  nothing  that  the  dockyard  could  not 
set  right  in  a  fortnight." 

He  then  went  below.  "  Excellent  accommodation,"  he  said, 
after  going  round,  "  that  is  for  a  fair  crew,  but  she  must  have 
been  crowded  indeed  with  eighty  men.  What  should  you  con- 
sider to  be  a  fair  crew  for  her,  Mr.  Glover  ?  " 

"Twenty  men,  sir,  if  she  were  a  simple  trader;  I  should  say 
from  thirty-five  to  forty  would  be  none  too  much  if  she  were 
going  to  fight  her  guns." 

"  Now  we  will  have  a  look  at  your  craft.  You  may  as  well 
take  a  seat  in  my  gig.  Yes,"  he  went  on,  as  he  rowed  round 
her  as  he  had  done  with  the  brigantine,  "  now  that  the  sails  are 
furled  she  does  not  seem  any  the  worse  for  it,  except  in  the 
bow  and  those  two  holes  in  the  bulwarks." 

Monsieur  Pickard  and  the  ladies  were  seated  on  the  deck, 
and  rose  as  the  admiral  came  on  board. 

"  Please  introduce  me  to  your  friends,  Mr.  Glover." 

Nat  did  so,  and  the  admiral  shook  hands  with  them  all. 

"  I  think  I  may  congratulate  you  on  your  escape  from  a  very 
terrible  position." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  Madame  Pickard  said.  "No  words  can 
express  the  gratitude  we  feel  to  Monsieur  Glover,  his  two 
officers,  and  the  crew.  Our  position  seemed  hopeless,  the 
most  terrible  of  deaths  and  the  worst  of  atrocities  stared  us 
in  the  face." 


THE  ATTACK  ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  259 

"  I  have  heard  all  about  it,  madame,  and  consider  that 
Lieutenant  Glover  managed  the  whole  business  with  great 
discretion  as  well  as  bravery.  He  has  a  bad  habit  of  get- 
ting into  scrapes,  but  an  equally  good  one  of  getting  out  of 
them  with  credit  to  himself.  This  is  the  third  time  he  has 
rendered  signal  services  to  ladies  in  distress,  and  I  suppose  I 
should  add  that  he  has  in  addition  saved  the  lives  of  the 
ladies  on  board  the  barque  lying  astern.  If  there  were  a 
medal  for  that  sort  of  thing  he  would  assuredly  deserve  it. 
He  ought  to  have  been  born  six  or  seven  hundred  years  ago, 
he  would  have  made  a  delightful  knight-errant. 

"  What  are  the  ladies  like  in  the  other  ship,  Mr.  Glover?  " 

"  I  have  no  idea,  sir.  I  only  saw  them  for  a  moment 
when  I  ran  into  the  cabin  and  cut  their  bonds.  I  have  only 
seen  the  gentlemen  for  a  minute  or  two  when  they  joined  the 
boarders  from  the  Thames  under  Mr.  Turnbull,  and  I  was 
much  too  busy  to  notice  them." 

"  Have  you  not  gone  on  board  since  ?  " 

"No,  sir,  I  had  nothing  to  go  on  board  for,  and  I  don't 
speak  any  Spanish." 

"We  tried  to  persuade  him,  Monsieur  1'Amiral,"  Valerie 
said,  "  but  monsieur  is  modest,  he  has  never  let  us  thank  him 
yet;  and  although  he  pretended  that  he  only  kept  ahead  of 
the  other  two  because  his  ship  was  a  faster  sailer,  it  was 
really  because  he  did  not  wish  to  be  thanked." 

"  But  other  people  are  modest  too,"  the  admiral  said  with 
a  smile.  "  I  have  heard  of  two  young  ladies  who  came  on 
board,  and  who  would  not  stir  out  of  their  cabins  until  they 
had  made  themselves  new  dresses." 

The  two  girls  both  coloured  up  at  the  allusion,  and  Mon- 
sieur Pickard  laughed.  "Now  I  will  go  below,  Mr.  Glover. 
She  is  very  small  by  the  side  of  the  brigantine,"  he  said,  as 
he  completed  his  visit  of  inspection.  "  I  am  not  surprised 


260  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

that  the  pirates  chased  you  after  your  impudence  in  firing  at 
them,  and  that  they  thought  they  could  eat  you  at  a  mouthful. 
Now,  we  will  pay  a  visit  to  the  barque." 

To  Nat's  great  relief,  he  found  that  the  passengers  had  all 
gone  ashore.  It  was  certain  that  they  would  be  detained  for 
some  little  time,  as  there  would  be  legal  formalities  to  be  gone 
through,  and  repairs  to  be  executed,  and  additional  hands  to 
be  obtained ;  and,  all  feeling  terribly  shaken  by  the  events 
that  had  taken  place  on  board,  and  the  loss  in  some  cases  of 
near  relations,  they  had  been  glad  to  land  until  the  ship  was 
again  ready  for  sea.  The  mate  in  charge  handed  to  the  admiral 
the  ship's  manifest  and  papers. 

"You  have  no  seriously  wounded  on  board?"  the  latter 
asked  him.  "  Because  if  so,  I  should  advise  you  to  send  them 
ashore  to  the  hospital  at  once." 

"  No,  sir.  All  who  fell  on  the  deck  were  thrown  overboard 
by  the  pirates  as  soon  as  they  obtained  possession  of  the  ship. 
I  believe  that  they  fastened  shot  to  their  feet  to  make  them 
sink  at  once." 

The  admiral  nodded.  "That  is  likely  enough.  Dead 
bodies  drifting  ashore  might  cause  inquiries  to  be  made ;  their 
intention  no  doubt  was  to  take  all  the  most  valuable  part  of 
the  cargo  out  of  the  ship,  and  then  to  scuttle  her  with  all  on 
board." 

"  Are  we  likely  to  be  detained  here  long,  sir?" 

"  Not  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  We  shall  require  you  to 
sign  in  the  presence  of  a  magistrate  here  a  formal  document 
acknowledging  that  the  vessel  was  absolutely  captured,  and  in 
possession  of  the  pirates,  and  that  she  was  recaptured  by  his 
majesty's  schooner  the  Arrow,  and  to  sign  a  bond  on  behalf  of 
the  owners  to  pay  the  legal  proportion  of  the  value  of  the  ship 
and  cargo  to  the  admiralty  prize  court  in  London.  You  will, 
of  course,  take  her  home  yourself,  but  I  shall  send  a  naval 


THE   ATTACK   ON    PORT-AU-PRINCE  261 

officer  with  you,  as  the  ship  and  its  cpntents  remain  the  prop- 
erty of  government  until  the  charges  upon  her  are  acquitted. 
If  we  were  at  war  with  France  we  should  retain  her  here  until 
she  could  sail  under  convoy  of  a  vessel  of  war  homeward- 
bound,  but  there  is  no  occasion  for  doing  that  now.  I  do 
not  suppose  that  you  will  find  much  difficulty  in  obtaining 
mates  and  enough  sailors  to  make  up  your  complement  here. 
Scarcely  a  ship  sails  from  the  port  without  some  of  her  men 
being  left  behind,  either  as  deserters  or  through  having  been 
too  drunk  to  rejoin.  At  any  rate  you  had  better  be  careful 
whom  you  pick,  and  if  you  should  find  a  difficulty  in  obtaining 
men  whose  discharge-books  show  that  they  have  hitherto 
borne  a  good  character,  I  should  advise  you  to  ship  eight  or 
ten  stout  negroes.  They  are  good  hands  at  managing  their 
own  craft,  and  although  they  might  not  be  of  much  use  aloft, 
they  are  as  a  rule  thoroughly  trustworthy  fellows,  and  quite 
as  good  for  work  on  deck  as  our  own  men.  I  will  give  you 
an  order  on  the  dockyard  for  any  repairs  that  you  cannot  get 
executed  elsewhere.  They  will  of  course  be  charged  for,  but 
need  not  be  paid  for  here,  as  they  will  go  down  in  the  account 
against  the  ship." 

Fortunately  the  dockyard  was  not  busy,  and  the  Agile  and 
the  Arrow  were  the  next  morning  taken  into  dock,  and  a  strong 
gang  of  men  at  once  set  to  work  upon  them.  Three  days 
later  a  signal  was  made  for  Nat  to  go  on  board  the  flagship. 

"  I  have  received  the  report  from  the  dockyard  people,  Mr. 
Glover,"  the  admiral  said.  "  They  confirm  our  opinion  that 
the  Agile  has  not  suffered  any  serious  damage ;  that  she  is  a 
new  and  well-built  vessel,  and  well  fitted  for  our  service,  and 
she  will  therefore  be  retained  at  the  valuation  they  set  upon 
her.  Here  is  your  commission  as  her  commander.  Hav- 
ing done  so  well  in  the  little  Arrow,  I  have  no  doubt  as  to 
your  ability  and  fitness  for  the  post.  She  will  carry  forty 


262  A    ROVING   COMMISSION 

hands.  I  shall  give  you  two  petty  officers,  a  boatswain's  mate 
and  a  gunner's  mate.  I  had  thought  of  giving  you  another 
midshipman,  but  I  think  it  would  be  better  that  you  should 
take  a  surgeon.  Three  or  four  assistant  surgeons  came  out 
last  week,  and  I  can  very  well  spare  you  one. 

"  I  shall  not  give  you  one  of  the  new  arrivals,  for  it  is  better 
that  these  for  a  time  should  serve  on  larger  ships,  get  accus- 
tomed to  naval  work,  and  learn  the  ordinary  routine  of  duty 
on  board.  I  shall,  therefore,  send  you  one  from  either  the 
Theseus  or  the  Litnerick,  and  fill  up  his  place  with  a  new-comer. 
Your  duties  will  be  precisely  the  same  as  those  assigned  to 
you  in  the  Arrow,  except  that  I  shall  not  impress  upon  you 
the  necessity  for  giving  a  wide  berth  to  suspicious  vessels. 
You  will  cruise  on  the  coast  of  Hayti,  take  off  refugees, 
communicate,  if  possible,  with  chiefs  of  the  insurgents,  and 
see  if  there  is  any  strong  feeling  among  them  in  favour  of 
annexation  to  England.  You  will  be  authorized,  in  case  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  save  the  inhabitants  of  any 
coast  town  from  slaughter  from  the  blacks,  either  to  help  the 
garrison  with  your  guns  or  to  land  a  portion  not  exceeding 
half  your  crew  to  aid  in  the  defence." 

"  I  am  indeed  greatly  obliged  to  you,  admiral,  and  assure 
you  that  I  will  do  my  best  to  merit  your  kindness  and  confi- 
dence." 

"  It  is  to  yourself  rather  than  to  me  that  you  are  indebted 
for  what  is  virtually  a  step  towards  promotion.  Just  at  present 
I  do  not  think  that  you  are  likely  to  have  any  opportunity 
of  taking  advantage  of  your  increased  force,  as  we  have  heard 
no  complaints  of  pirates  of  late.  We  may  hope  that  these 
scoundrels,  finding  that  the  islands  are  growing  too  hot  for 
them,  have  moved  away  to  safer  quarters.  At  any  rate,  if 
there  are  any  of  them  in  these  waters,  they  are  likely  to  be 
among  the  northern  Cays,  and  are  probably  confining  their 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  263 

depredations  for  a  time  to  ships  trading  between  Europe  and 
Florida,  or  to  vessels  from  here  which  have  passed  beyond  the 
general  limit  of  the  seas  we  patrol." 

On  Nat's  return  to  the  dockyard,  he  delighted  Lippincott 
with  the  news  of  the  exchange  that  they  were  to  make. 
Turnbull  was  in  hospital,  but  the  surgeons  had  reported  that 
his  wound  was  not  so  serious  as  it  seemed  at  first,  and  that 
a  fortnight's  rest  and  quiet  would  go  far  to  render  him  con- 
valescent. The  sailors,  too,  were  glad  to  hear  that  they  were 
going  to  be  transferred  to  a  craft  in  which  they  would  be  able 
to  meet  an  enemy  with  confidence.  They  were  also  pleased  to 
hear  that  there  was  to  be  no  change  in  their  officers,  for  they 
had  unbounded  trust  in  their  young  commander,  and  had  from 
the  first  agreed  that  they  had  never  sailed  in  a  more  comfort- 
able ship.  After  seeing  Turnbull  and  acquainting  him  with 
the  news,  Nat  paid  a  visit  to  the  Pickards.  They  had  landed 
on  the  evening  of  their  arrival,  and,  after  stopping  a  day  in  an 
hotel,  had  established  themselves  in  a  pretty  house  outside 
the  town,  which  Monsieur  Pickard  had  hired  from  a  merchant 
who  w^  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  England,  and  would  be 
absent  several  months. 

Monsieur  Pickard  had,  on  arriving,  gone  to  a  merchant 
with  whom  he  had  business  connections,  and  to  whom  he  had 
frequently  consigned  produce  for  shipment  to  England  or 
France  when  there  happened  to  be  no  vessel  in  Port-au-Prince 
sailing  for  Europe.  He  had  obtained  from  him  a  loan  on 
the  security  of  the  season's  produce,  which  had,  fortunately, 
been  sent  down  to  be  warehoused  at  Port-au-Prince  two  or 
three  weeks  before  the  insurrection  broke  out. 

Nat's  friends,  too,  heartily  congratulated  him  on  obtaining 
the  command  of  a  larger  vessel. 

"  After  the  troubles  and  anxiety  we  have  of  late  gone 
through,  Monsieur  Glover,  we  feel  the  comfort  of  being  under 


264  A    ROVING   COMMISSION 

the  protection  of  the  British  flag,  and  shall  enjoy  it  all  the 
more  now  that  we  know  that  you  are  not  going  to  sea  again 
in  that  pretty  little  vessel,  for  if  you  fell  in  with  another  large 
corsair  you  might  not  be  so  fortunate  as  you  were  last  time. 
As  you  have  said,  if  an  unlucky  shot  had  struck  one  of  your 
spars,  you  would  have  been  at  her  mercy,  and  we  know  what 
that  mercy  would  mean.  I  intend  to  stay  here  for  a  short  time, 
till  madame  and  the  girls  get  quite  accustomed  to  their  new 
home,  before  sailing  for  Port-au-Prince ;  but  whether  I  am  at 
home  or  away  you  know  how  welcome  you  will  be  here  when- 
ever you  happen  to  be  in  port.  How  long  do  you  think  it  is 
likely  to  be  before  you  are  off?  " 

"I  was  speaking  to  the  superintendent  of  the  dockyard 
before  I  came  out,  and  he  says  that  he  will  get  the  Agile  ready 
for  sea  in  three  weeks'  time.  He  cannot  possibly  manage  it 
before  ;  the  hull  could  be  ready  in  a  week,  but  the  suit  of  sails 
will  require  three  times  as  long,  though  he  has  promised  to  take 
on  some  extra  hands  if  he  can  get  them.  Orders  have,  how- 
ever, been  given  by  the  Thames  to  the  chief  native  sail-maker 
of  the  place  to  patch  some  of  the  sails  and  to  make  several  new 
ones,  and  he  has  taken  up  some  of  the  best  hands  in  the  town. 
Then,  no  doubt,  whoever  gets  the  command  of  the  Arrow  will 
be  wanting  her  sails  pushed  forward,  though  that  is  not 
certain,  for  it  is  not  unlikely  that,  now  the  Agile  has  been 
bought  into  the  service,  the  Arrow  will  be  sold.  Indeed, 
one  of  the  principal  merchants  here  would  be  glad  to  buy 
her  as  a  private  yacht  if  he  had  the  chance,  as  he  often  has 
business  at  the  other  islands,  and  she  is  just  the  craft  that 
would  suit  him.  He  said  that  by  putting  up  shorter  top- 
masts twelve  men  would  be  enough  to  sail  her,  and  that  he 
would  exchange  the  guns  for  eight-pounders,  as  from  what  he 
had  heard  she  could  outsail  almost  any  craft  she  was  likely  to 
meet  with,  and  small  guns  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  prevent 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  265 

any  of  these  little  native  piratical  craft  from  meddling  with 
her.  However,  I  think  the  superintendent  will  keep  his  word, 
and  that  in  three  weeks'  time  I  shall  be  off." 

"I  may  possibly  be  at  Port-au-Prince  before  you,  then," 
Monsieur  Pickard  said.  "  I  am  thinking  of  chartering  a  small 
brig  and  going  in  her  to  Port-au-Prince,  and  bringing  my 
goods  back  from  there.  Now  that  the  mulattoes  are  up  in 
arms,  the  place  cannot  be  considered  as  absolutely  safe ;  and  as 
I  calculate  they  are  worth  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  pounds, 
I  think  it  will  be  well  to  get  them  over  as  soon  as  possible." 

"I  quite  agree  with  you,  Monsieur  Pickard,  and  should 
certainly  advise  you  to  lose  no  time.  Unless  I  get  instructions 
to  the  contrary,  I  shall,  in  the  first  place,  cruise  round  the 
shore  of  the  bay  of  Hayti." 

Ten  days  later,  indeed,  Monsieur  Pickard  sailed  in  the  brig 
that  he  had  chartered.  Nat  had  called  to  say  good-bye  the 
evening  before,  and,  to  his  embarrassment,  was  presented  by 
him  with  a  very  handsome  gold  watch  and  chain,  the  former 
bearing  the  inscription  that  it  was  a  small  token  of  the  deepest 
gratitude  of  Eugene  Pickard,  his  wife  and  daughters,  for  having 
saved  them  from  the  most  terrible  fate. 

"It  is  only  a  little  thing,  Monsieur  Glover,"  the  planter 
said  —  "a  feeble  token  of  our  gratitude,  but  something  which 
many  years  hence  will  recall  to  your  memory  the  inestimable 
service  that  you  have  rendered  us." 

The  superintendent  of  the  dockyard  kept  his  word,  and  in 
three  weeks  the  Agile  was  afloat  again,  and  the  next  morning 
twenty  men  drafted  from  the  war-ships  in  the  port  were  trans- 
ferred to  her.  Those  of  the  Arrow,  with  the  exception  of  five 
still  in  the  hospital,  had  shifted  their  quarters  to  her  a  fort- 
night previously.  Turnbull  had  rejoined  the  evening  before. 
His  arm  was  still  in  a  sling,  but  otherwise  he  was  quite  con- 
valescent. Lippincott  had  that  morning  given  up  the  bandage 


266  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

round  his  head,  which  had  kept  him  almost  a  prisoner  until 
now,  for  he  had  refused  to  go  into  the  town  until  after  night- 
fall with  his  head  bound  up,  although  Nat  had  many  times 
assured  him  that  an  honourable  wound  would  not  be  regarded 
as  any  disadvantage  by  the  young  ladies  at  Kingston.  The 
assistant  surgeon,  James  Doyle,  a  cheery  young  Irishman,  also 
joined  that  morning. 

"  It  is  glad  I  am  to  be  out  of  all  the  ceremony  and  bothera- 
tion on  board  the  frigate,"  he  said  as  he  shook  hands  with  Nat, 
"  and  to  be  afloat  on  my  own  account,  as  it  were.  Saunders, 
the  surgeon,  was  enough  to  wear  one  out  with  his  preciseness 
and  his  regulations ;  faith,  he  was  a  man  who  would  rather  take 
off  a  man's  leg  than  listen  to  a  joke,  and  it  put  me  on  thorns 
to  hear  him  speak  to  the  men  as  if  they  were  every  one  of  them 
shamming  —  as  if  anyone  would  pretend  to  be  ill  when  ke  had 
to  take  the  bastely  medicines  Saunders  used  to  make  up  for 
them." 

"  I  don't  think  you  will  find  much  shamming  here,  doctor, 
especially  if  the  new  hands  are  as  good  as  the  others ;  and  I 
hope  that  your  services  will  not  often  be  required  except  in  the 
matter  of  wounds." 

"  No  fighting  means  no  wounds,  and  I  am  afraid  that  there  is 
no  hope  of  fighting,"  the  surgeon  said,  shaking  his  head  mourn- 
fully ;  "  you  and  the  Orpheus  have  pretty  well  cleared  out  the 
pirates,  and  it  was  a  case  of  pure  luck  that  you  came  across 
this  craft  the  other  day.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Orpheus' 
men  have  had  all  the  luck,  and  the  big  ships'  turn  won't  come 
till  we  have  war  with  France.  However,  it  may  be  that  the 
luck  will  stick  to  you  for  a  bit  yet,  for,  by  my  faith,  I  shall 
before  long  have  forgotten  how  to  take  off  a  limb  or  to  tie  up 
an  artery  for  want  of  practice.  We  all  envied  you  when  you 
came  in  the  other  day  with  the  two  prizes  behind  you,  both 
big  enough  to  have  eaten  you  up,  and  though  we  cheered, 


THE  ATTACK   ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE  267 

there  was  many  a  man  who  grumbled,  '  Bad  cess  to  them,  the 
Orpheus'  men  have  got  all  the  luck.'  " 

"  But  the  Orpheus  had  nothing  to  do  with  it/'  Nat  laughed. 

"  No,  I  know  that ;  but  you  had  been  one  of  their  men,  and 
had,  as  I  have  heard,  more  than  your  share  already  of  adven- 
tures." 

Nat  had  received  no  further  orders,  and  sailed  that  afternoon  ; 
two  days  later  he  was  off  the  entrance  of  the  great  bay.  He 
coasted  along  the  shore  as  near  as  he  could  venture,  always 
keeping  a  man  on  watch  for  signals  made  by  anyone  anxious 
to  be  taken  off.  When  it  became  dark  the  anchor  was  dropped, 
so  that  no  part  of  the  shore  could  be  passed  without  the 
ship  being  observed.  It  was  on  the  seventh  day  after  sailing 
that  he  arrived  at  Port-au-Prince.  Half  an  hour  after  he  had 
anchored,  Monsieur  Pickard  came  off  in  a  boat. 

"It  is  lucky  that  I  lost  no  time,"  he  said  after  the  first 
greetings  were  over ;  "  I  got  my  last  bale  of  goods  on  board 
the  brig  an  hour  ago,  and  we  are  going  to  warp  her  out  at 
once  so  as  to  be  under  shelter  of  your  guns." 

"  Why,  what  is  the  matter?" 

"  There  is  news  that  a  large  force  of  mulattoes  and  negroes 
are  coming  down  from  the  hills  and  will  be  here  probably 
to-morrow  morning.  Luckily  a  great  part  of  the  negroes  were 
turned  out  of  the  town  a  fortnight  ago.  There  are  only  two 
hundred  soldiers  here,  and  about  as  many  white  volunteers  — 
little  enough  to  defend  the  place  if  they  attack  us.  No  doubt 
they  chose  the  moment  because  there  is  not  a  French  war-ship 
of  any  kind  in  port.  However,  I  think  that  all  the  white 
women  and  children  are  on  board  the  ships.  They  are  all 
crowded.  I  have  about  twenty  on  board  the  brig,  and  have 
rigged  up  a  sail  as  an  awning,  and  on  such  a  warm  night  as 
this  they  will  sleep  better  there  than  they  would  in  a  cabin.  I 
can  assure  you  that  there  was  the  greatest  satisfaction  when 


268  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

you  were  seen  coming  in.  Several  of  the  captains  had  talked 
of  towing  their  vessels  out  three  or  four  miles  into  the  bay, 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  certain  that  you  were  an  armed  ship, 
the  idea  was  given  up,  as  many  of  them  were  only  half-laden ; 
and  it  was  felt  that,  of  whatever  nationality  you  were,  you 
would  prevent  the  negroes  from  coming  off  in  boats  to  murder 
the  women  and  children.  Of  course  I  did  not  know  that  it 
was  you  until  I  made  out  your  figure  from  the  shore,  but  as 
soon  as  I  did  so,  I  told  all  I  knew  that  they  need  not  trouble 
about  the  safety  of  those  on  board  ship,  for  I  could  answer 
for  it  that  you  would  not  hesitate  to  turn  your  guns  on  any 
boats  that  went  out  to  attack  them." 

"Well,  Monsieur  Pickard,  I  cannot  believe  that  the  town 
will  be  taken,  but  at  any  rate  I  congratulate  you  on  having 
got  all  your  produce  an  board." 

"Yes,  it  is  a  very  important  matter  to  us;  we  cannot  cal- 
culate upon  finding  a  purchaser  for  our  house  at  Cape  Fran- 
cois at  anything  approaching  its  value  at  ordinary  times.  I 
have  a  couple  of  thousand  pounds  lying  at  my  banker's,  and 
although  six  months  ago  I  would  not  have  taken  forty  thou- 
sand for  the  estate  and  the  slaves  upon  it,  I  suppose  I  may 
consider  myself  fortunate  if  I  get  half  that  sum,  or  even  less, 
now.  Anyhow,  if  I  get  my  crop  here  safe  to  Jamaica,  I  need 
not  worry  myself  as  to  the  future." 

"  If  the  place  is  attacked  in  the  morning,  monsieur,  I  have 
the  admiral's  authority  to  land  half  my  men  to  aid  in  the 
defence ;  and  though  twenty  men  is  but  a  small  number,  they 
may  render  some  assistance.  I  intend  to  hold  them  in  reserve, 
and  to  take  them  to  any  spot  at  which  the  insurgents  may  be 
pressing  back  the  defenders.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will 
inform  the  officer  in  command  of  the  troops  and  the  civil 
authorities  that  they  can  count  on  my  assistance  to  that 
extent.  Will  you  give  them  my  advice  to  get  all  the  avail- 


THE  ATTACK   ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE  269 

able  boats  ranged  along  by  the  quay  opposite  to  us,  so  that  in 
case  of  the  worst  all  can  retreat  there.  I  will  cover  their 
embarkation  with  my  guns.  Lastly,  I  should  advise  the 
captains  of  all  the  ships  in  port  to  tow  their  vessels  out  and 
range  them  behind  us,  so  that  there  may  be  nothing  to  inter- 
fere with  our  line  of  fire." 

"I  will  inform  the  committee  of  defence  directly  I  go 
ashore,  and  they  will  doubtless  send  off  at  once  to  order  the 
various  ships  to  anchor  at  the  spot  you  indicate.  It  will  be  a 
relief,  indeed,  to  them  all  to  know  that  you  have  undertaken 
their  protection." 

"I  will  go  ashore  with  you,"  Nat  said;  "though  I  have 
landed  here  more  than  once  I  do  not  know  the  place  well 
enough  to  be  able  to  act  quickly.  I  should  like  to  see  exactly 
where  your  batteries  are  placed,  and  where  it  is  most  likely 
that  the  negroes  will  make  their  chief  attack." 

They  went  ashore  and  landed  together,  and  walked  to  the 
house  where  the  principal  men  of  the  town  were  assembled. 

"  Will  you  come  in  with  me  ?  "  Monsieur  Pickard  asked. 

"  No,  I  will  leave  you  to  explain  what  I  propose  to  do  and 
what  I  recommend  that  they  should  do.  There  is  sure  to  be 
a  lot  of  talk  and  discussion,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  lose  time. 
The  sun  will  be  setting  in  another  hour,  so  I  will  make  my 
round  at  once." 

Passing  through  the  town,  Nat  visited  the  various  batteries 
that  had  been  erected,  and  decided  that  if  the  blacks  were 
well  led  they  would  work  round  and  attack  the  remains  of  the 
native  town.  The  batteries  had  principally  been  erected  round 
the  European  quarter,  as  if  any  enemy  coming  from  the  hills 
would  be  certain  to  make  a  direct  attack,  while  the  native 
quarter  was  almost  entirely  undefended,  although  with  this 
once  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy  the  whole  town  would  lie 
open  to  them. 


270  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  It  is  clear  that  this  is  the  real  point  of  danger,"  he  mut- 
tered. "  Fortunately,  from  where  we  are  lying  our  guns  can 
sweep  the  widest  street  that  runs  down  through  this  quarter. 
I  shall  mention  my  ideas  to  Pickard.  No  doubt  he  is  still 
talking  away  at  the  meeting." 

He  went  back  to  the  house.  M.  Pickard  and  half  a  dozen 
other  gentlemen  were  standing  at  the  door.  M.  Pickard  at 
once  introduced  them  to  him. 

"  My  object  in  coming  round  here,  gentlemen,  is  to  tell  you 
that  in  my  opinion  your  defences,  which  are  quite  strong 
enough  to  protect  the  town  against  any  body  of  negroes  com- 
ing down  on  the  easterly  side,  are  wholly  insufficient  to  repel 
an  attack  if  made  on  the  native  town.  I  trust,  therefore,  that 
when  the  troops  man  the  defences  a  considerable  number  of 
them  at  least  will  be  so  placed  as  to  be  ready  to  meet  an 
attack  from  that  side.  There  is  practically  nothing  to  prevent 
the  negroes  from  entering  there,  and,  as  many  of  the  mulattoes 
with  them  must  be  perfectly  aware  of  the  position  of  the 
batteries,  they  are  scarcely  likely  to  propose  to  make  an  attack 
upon  them,  knowing  that  the  negroes  would  not  be  able  to 
face  an  artillery  fire,  but  would  lead  them  round  to  attack  the 
almost  defenceless  native  portion  of  the  town." 

"  We  have  always  reckoned  upon  their  coming  upon  us  by 
one  of  the  main  roads  from  the  hills,"  one  of  the  gentlemen 
said. 

"  So  I  see,  monsieur ;  but  some  of  the  mulattoes  with  them 
are  men  of  considerable  intelligence,  and  would  be  hardly 
foolish  enough  to  try  to  break  down  the  door  that  you  have 
closed  against  them  when  they  know  that  there  is  an  open 
entrance  at  the  back.  If  there  is  a  man  with  the  smallest  spark 
of  military  genius  about  him  he  will  commence  the  attack  by 
a  feint  in  considerable  force  against  the  batteries,  and  then, 
under  cover  of  the  smoke  of  your  guns  and  his  own  —  for  I 


THE  ATTACK  ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE  271 

hear  from  Monsieur  Pickard  that  they  are  said  to  have  fifteen  or 
twenty  guns  which  they  have  taken  at  small  places  on  the  coast 
—  will  send  round  the  main  body  of  his  force  to  fall  on  the 
native  town.  That  is  my  opinion,  gentlemen.  I  know  very 
little  of  military  matters,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  is  the  course 
that  any  man  of  moderate  intelligence  would  pursue,  and  I 
therefore  should  strongly  advise  that  at  least  half  your  volun- 
teer force  should  take  post  to  defend  the  native  town,  and 
so  give  time  to  the  remainder  to  conae  up  and  assist  hi  the 
defence.  I  shall  post  my  sailors  in  a  position  where  they  can 
best  aid  in  the  defence  in  this  direction,  and  shall  have  the 
guns  of  my  ship  in  readiness  to  open  fire  on  the  native  town  if 
you  are  driven  back." 

"  Thank  you,  sir.  We  shall  have  another  meeting  late  this 
evening,  and  I  shall  do  my  best  to  urge  the  committee  to  act 
as  you  suggest." 

Nat  returned  on  board  the  Agile.  Already  most  of  the 
ships  in  the  port  had  anchored  a  short  distance  outside  the 
brigantine,  and  a  few  that  had  kept  on  until  the  last  moment 
taking  their  cargo  on  board  were  being  towed  by  their  boats 
in  the  same  direction.  Turnbull  and  Lippincott  were  anxiously 
awaiting  Nat's  return.  Retiring  into  the  cabin,  he  told  them 
the  result  of  his  investigation  of  the  defences  and  the  position 
on  shore. 

"  I  think  we  shall  have  hot  work  to-morrow,"  he  went  on. 
"If  the  negroes  are  not  absolute  fools  they  will  not  knock 
their  heads  against  the  batteries.  There  are  twenty  cannon  in 
position,  for  the  most  part  ships'  guns,  and  as  I  hear  that  they 
have  plenty  of  ammunition,  and  especially  grape,  they  would 
simply  mow  the  niggers  down  if  they  attacked  them.  There 
is  only  one  battery  with  three  guns  covering  the  native  town, 
and  the  blacks  ought  to  have  no  difficulty  in  carrying  this  with 
a  rush.  We  have  learnt  by  experience  that,  whatever  their 


272  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

faults,  they  can  fight  furiously,  and  are  ready  enough  to  risk 
their  lives.  Thus,  this  battery  may  be  taken  in  a  few  minutes. 
If  a  hundred  of  the  volunteers  held  the  huts  behind  it  they 
might  check  them  for  a  time,  but  as  the  negroes  are  several 
thousands  strong  the  resistance  cannot  be  long.  The  best 
point  of  defence  will  be  that  street  facing  us  here.  Our  guns 
will  come  into  play,  and  it  is  there  that  I  shall  join  the  French 
as  they  fall  back. 

"  I  shall  get  you,  Mr.  Lippincott,  to  row  round  this  evening 
to  all  these  craft  near  us,  and  to  request  the  captains,  in  my 
name,  to  send  all  the  men  provided  with  muskets  they  may 
have,  on  board  us,  as  soon  as  firing  is  heard.  You  will  remain 
on  board  in  charge,  Turnbull ;  with  your  arm  in  a  sling,  you 
are  not  fit  for  fighting  on  shore.  With  your  twenty  men  you 
ought  to  be  able  to  work  the  guns  pretty  fast.  Between  their 
shots  the  men  with  muskets  would  aid.  Of  course  you  would 
use  grape.  If  their  attack  lulls  in  the  least  send  a  few  round- 
shot  among  the  houses  on  their  side.  Pomp  and  Sam  had 
better  go  ashore  with  us  and  act  as  boat-keepers.  I  will  take 
the  boat  higher  up  than  those  of  the  townspeople,  for  if  a  panic 
seizes  them  there  would  be  a  mad  rush  to  get  on  board.  We 
will  go  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  farther,  and  the  boat  will  lie 
a  short  distance  out,  and  not  come  in  close  till  they  see  us  run- 
ning towards  it.  In  that  way  we  can  make  sure  of  being  able  to 
get  on  board." 

"I  should  certainly  have  liked  to  land,"  Turnbull  said,  " but 
I  know  that  I  am  not  fit  yet  for  hard  fighting." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  be  taking  me  along  with  you  ?  "  Doyle 
said. 

"  By  all  means  come  if  you  like,  but  I  was  not  thinking  of 
doing  so." 

"  It  is  not  often  that  we  get  a  chance  of  taking  a  share  in  the 
fun.  As  a  rule,  as  soon  as  the  guns  are  loaded  and  ready  for 


THE  ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  273 

action  we  have  to  go  below,  and  to  stop  there  bandaging  and 
dressing  wounds,  with  not  a  chance  of  seeing  what  is  going  on. 
This  is  just  one  chance  in  a  hundred.  I  should  be  no  good 
here,  for  there  is  no  one  to  look  after.  I  will  take  with  me 
two  or  three  tourniquets  and  some  bandages,  and  perchance 
I  may  be  the  means  of  saving  some  poor  boy's  life ;  and  while 
not  so  engaged  I  may  have  a  slap  at  these  murdering  blacks. 
I  am  a  pretty  good  shot,  and  when  a  man  can  bring  down  ten 
snipe  out  of  every  dozen,  as  I  have  done  time  after  time  in  the 
ould  country,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  put  a  bullet  into  a  black 
man's  carcass." 

"  If  you  are  bent  upon  going,  by  all  means  do  so.  As  you 
say,  a  tourniquet  clapped  on  directly  a  man  is  wounded  may 
save  his  life,  and  every  additional  musket  will  be  a  valuable 
addition  to  our  strength." 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE 

rwas  just  getting  light  on  the  following  morning  when  the 
sound  of  a  cannon  was  heard,  and  it  was  followed  by 
several  other  shots,  mingled  with  the  rattle  of  distant  musketry. 
The  town  woke  up  with  a  start.  Drums  beat  in  the  streets, 
and  in  a  minute  or  two  men  armed  with  rifles  and  muskets 
poured  out  from  their  houses,  and  hurried  to  the  rendezvous 
settled  upon  the  night  before.  The  firing  came  from  the 
eastern  side  of  the  town,  and  the  three  batteries  in  that  direc- 
tion were  all  engaged.  Mingled  with  the  report  of  the  guns 
came  the  sound  of  a  more  distant  cannonade,  showing  that  the 
insurgents'  artillery  was  also  at  work.  Among  the  shipping 
there  was  as  great  an  excitement  as  in  the  town.  On  board 

18 


274  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

every  ship  men  were  running  up  the  ratlines  to  see  if  a  view  of 
the  scene  of  action  could  be  obtained  from  aloft.  On  the  decks 
numbers  of  women,  who  had  hastily  thrown  on  their  upper 
clothing,  or  wrapped  themselves  in  shawls,  listened  anxiously 
to  the  sound  of  firing.  Scarce  one  but  had  a  husband,  brother, 
or  son  among  the  defenders  of  the  place. 

There  were  ten  vessels  lying  outside  the  Agile,  and  from 
each  of  these  boats  presently  put  off  to  the  brigantine,  some  with 
three  or  four  men,  others  with  as  many  as  ten,  all  armed  with 
muskets. 

"  You  will  soon  see  how  matters  go,  Turnbull,  and  whether 
this  is  a  real  or  only  a  feigned  attack." 

The  landing-party  were  in  a  few  minutes  ready  to  embark. 
Each  man  carried  fifty  rounds  of  ammunition  for  his  musket, 
and  a  dozen  additional  cartridges  for  his  pistols.  Their  water- 
bottles  were  slung  over  their  shoulders,  and  each  had  a  hunch 
of  bread  and  of  cold  meat  that  had  been  boiled  in  the  galley  the 
night  before  in  readiness.  They  took  their  places  in  the  cutter 
and  gig,  and  were  soon  rowed  ashore  to  the  point  which  Nat  had 
fixed  on  the  previous  evening.  The  various  boats  and  lighters 
used  in  loading  the  ships  had  all  been  gathered  at  the  quay 
facing  the  Agile,  and  Nat  was  pleased  to  see  that  his  advice  in 
this  respect  had  been  followed. 

The  orders  to  Sam  and  Pomp,  who  were  to  remain  one  in 
each  boat,  were  that  they  should  push  the  boats  out  as  far  as 
the  head-ropes  —  which  had  been  lengthened  for  the  occasion  — 
would  allow  them,  drop  a  small  grapnel  over  the  stern,  and 
should  then  keep  a  sharp  look-out.  The  moment  the  party  were 
seen  returning  they  were  to  pull  up  the  grapnels,  and  haul  on 
the  head-ropes  till  the  boats  were  alongside.  Both  were  armed, 
and  the  orders  were  that  they  were  to  shoot  anyone  who  should 
try  to  force  himself  into  either  boat  before  the  sailors  came  up. 

Nat  led  his  party  to  an  empty  house  close  to  the  street  com- 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  275 

manded  by  the  Agile's  guns.  Six  of  the  sailors  were  placed  as 
sentinels  at  the  ends  of  streets  running  into  this,  the  rest  piled 
arms. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Lippincott,  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  go  and 
ascertain  how  the  affair  is  proceeding,  and  whether  the  batteries 
are  keeping  the  insurgents  well  in  check.  I  am  about  to  start 
for  the  battery  on  this  side,  where  I  shall  get  a  fair  view  of 
the  country  round,  and  see  how  matters  stand. 

"  You  will  remain  here,  Mr.  Thompson,"  he  went  on  to  the 
boatswain,  "  in  charge  of  the  party.  I  shall  take  Newman 
with  me  in  case  I  have  any  orders  to  send  to  you.  Will  you 
come  with  me  also,  Doyle?" 

The  two  officers,  followed  by  an  active  young  seaman,  started. 
On  arriving  near  the  end  of  the  native  town,  Nat  was  glad  to 
see  a  group  of  the  volunteers  in  front  of  him.  They  saluted 
as  he  came  up. 

"  What  force  have  you  here,  gentlemen?  "  he  asked. 

"  Fifty  men,  captain." 

"  It  would  have  been  better  if  it  had  been  a  hundred  and 
fifty.  If  they  come  here  in  force  you  will  not  be  able  to  keep 
them  at  bay  long.  Where  is  your  main  body  ?  " 

"  They  are  gathered  in  front  of  the  municipal  offices  in  readi- 
ness to  move  wherever  their  services  may  be  most  required." 

"  That  is  quite  satisfactory.  I  was  afraid  that  most  of  them 
might  be  at  the  batteries  at  the  other  side  of  the  town,  where 
the  troops  ought  to  be  quite  able  to  hold  their  own  against  the 
blacks." 

At  this  moment  another  gentleman,  with  a  red  sash  over  his 
shoulder,  came  up.  He  was  the  commander  of  the  company 
stationed  there. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  we  are  rather  out  of  it,  monsieur,"  he  said, 
after  exchanging  salutes  with  Nat. 

"  I  am  still  more  afraid,  sir,  that  you  are  by  no  means  out 


276  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

of  it.  I  think  that  you  will  find  that  before  many  minutes  are 
over  you  will  be  hotly  engaged.  I  have  come  forward  to  tell 
you  that  my  men  are  placed  just  on  the  other  side  of  Royal 
Street,  and  to  beg  that  if  you  are  not  able  to  maintain  your- 
selves here  —  and  if  you  are  attacked,  I  am  convinced  that  it 
will  be  in  such  force  that  you  will  be  unable  to  do  so  —  you 
will  not  endanger  your  force  by  holding  on  here  too  long, 
but  will  retreat  to  Royal  Street,  and  there  make  a  stand,  occu- 
pying the  houses  on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  The  guns  of 
my  vessel  are  loaded  and  in  readiness  to  sweep  the  street  with 
grape  as  the  negroes  try  to  cross  it;  and  we  shall  have  in 
addition  some  forty  or  fifty  men  from  the  merchantmen  outside 
her,  who  will  aid  in  keeping  them  in  check.  If  I  might  advise 
you,  I  should  say  that  it  would  be  well  for  you  to  write  a  note, 
now  that  you  have  time  to  do  so,  saying  that  you  are  attacked 
in  overwhelming  force,  and  are  about  to  fall  back  to  Royal 
Street,  which  you  will,  aided  by  my  sailors  and  guns,  hold  to 
the  last,  and  begging  your  commander  to  send  his  whole  force 
up  to  support  you.  This  you  will,  of  course,  keep  until  the 
attack  comes,  and  will  send  off  as  soon  as  you  perceive  that 
your  position  here  is  untenable." 

"  I  think  that  is  a  very  good  suggestion,"  the  officer  said, 
"and  shall  carry  it  out  at  once." 

"  I  will  go  on  to  the  battery,"  Nat  said ;  "  from  there  I  shall 
get  a  better  idea  of  the  situation." 

They  had  scarcely  gone  beyond  the  line  of  houses  when  a 
French  soldier  came  running  in. 

"  What  is  your  news  ?  "  Nat  asked  him. 

"  A  great  crowd  of  the  enemy  are  coming,  sir.  The  captain 
has  sent  me  to  beg  the  commander  of  the  volunteers  here  to 
bring  up  his  force  to  support  him." 

"  You  will  find  him  a  hundred  yards  farther  on.  Now,  doctor, 
you  will  go  forward  and  have  a  look." 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  277 

Arriving  at  the  battery,  which  was  manned  by  twenty  French 
soldiers  under  a  young  lieutenant,  Nat  and  the  doctor  mounted 
the  parapet.  The  enemy  were  still  half  a  mile  away.  They 
were  in  no  sort  of  order,  but  were  coming  on  in  a  confused 
mass. 

"  There  must  be  three  or  four  thousand  of  them,  lieutenant," 
Nat  said  quietly.  "  You  may  check  them  a  little,  but  you  will 
never  keep  them  out  of  the  town  if  they  come  on  with  a  rush. 
I  suppose  you  are  loaded  with  grape?" 

"  Yes,  monsieur,"  the  young  Frenchman  said. 

He  felt  relieved  at  the  arrival  of  the  commander  of  the 
British  ship  of  war,  for  he  was  feeling  the  responsibility  of  his 
position  greatly. 

"  I  should  let  them  get  within  four  or  five  hundred  yards," 
Nat  said  quietly,  "  then  fire  your  guns  singly,  loading  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Here  come  the  volunteers ;  place  five-and-twenty 
of  them  on  each  side  of  your  battery.  Let  them  lie  down,  and 
open  fire  when  the  enemy  are  within  two  hundred  and  fifty 
yards.  If  they  come  on  in  spite  of  the  fire,  I  should  say  that 
you  had  best  all  retire  at  the  double.  It  will  be  of  no  use 
trying  to  hold  the  houses ;  they  would  only  outflank  you  and 
cut  you  off.  I  have  akeady  arranged  with  the  volunteers 
that  they  shall  make  a  stand  at  Royal  Street.  I  have  a  party 
of  my  sailors  there  in  readiness  to  help  them,  and  as  the  guns 
of  my  ship  will  sweep  the  street  we  should  certainly  be  able  to 
hold  it  until  help  arrives." 

"  Thank  you,  monsieur,  I  will  do  as  you  suggest." 

At  this  moment  the  volunteers  came  up  at  a  run. 

"  Where  do  you  wish  me  to  place  my  men  ?  "  the  captain  said 
to  the  French  lieutenant. 

"  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  put  half  of  them  on  each 
side  of  the  battery.  Let  them  lie  down  there,  and  open  fire 
when  the  enemy  are  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards.  If 


278  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

when  they  get  within  a  hundred  yards,  your  fire  and  ours 
does  not  stop  them,  we  will  then  retreat  together  at  the 
double.  If  we  were  once  surrounded  we  should  have  no 
chance  whatever.  Give  your  guns  an  elevation  of  five  hundred 
yards,"  he  said  to  his  men. 

When  this  was  done  he  looked  inquiringly  at  Nat.  The 
other  nodded. 

"Yes,  I  think  it  is  about  five  hundred  yards."  Then  he 
turned  to  the  seaman :  "  Go  back  as  quickly  as  you  can, 
Newman,  and  tell  Mr.  Thompson  that  the  blacks  are  coming, 
and  that  we  shall  probably  be  with  him  five  minutes  after  you 
arrive.  Tell  him  also  to  send  a  man  down  as  we  had  arranged 
to  the  wharf,  to  signal  to  the  ship  to  be  in  readiness." 

As  he  spoke  the  first  of  the  guns  boomed  out.  A  few 
seconds  later  the  second  was  fired,  and  this  was  followed  by 
the  third  at  a  similar  interval.  The  cannon  were  old  ship  guns, 
and  had  been  heavily  charged  with  grape,  and  the  destruction 
wrought  upon  the  crowded  mass  of  negroes  was  so  great  that 
they  stopped  suddenly.  Several  of  their  leaders  were  seen  to 
rush  to  the  front  waving  and  gesticulating,  and  with  a  wild 
yell  the  negroes  again  advanced.  They  had  gone  but  fifty  yards 
when  the  gun  that  was  first  fired  spoke  out  again,  followed 
quickly  by  the  others.  This  time  there  was  no  pause  in  the 
advance.  Yelling  furiously  the  negroes,  who  were  armed 
with  guns,  discharged  them  at  random.  Two  more  rounds 
were  fired,  and  then  the  crakle  of  the  rifles  and  muskets 
of  the  volunteers  broke  out.  The  centre  of  the  negro  line 
paused  indecisively,  but  the  flanks  continued  on  their  way 
without  a  check. 

"  It  is  just  as  I  thought,"  Nat  said  to  the  doctor,  who  was 
loading  and  firing  his  piece  rapidly.  "Do you  see  how  their 
flanks  are  extending?  One  more  round,  lieutenant,  and  then 
we  had  best  be  going,  or  we  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  town." 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  279 

Again  the  three  guns  were  discharged.  The  execution  was 
terrible  in  the  centre  of  the  black  line,  but  the  flanks  still  kept 
on. 

"  Now,  captain,  get  your  men  together,"  Nat  said  to  the 
civilian  officer  who  was  standing  beside  him  ;  "  if  you  go  to  the 
right  I  will  go  to  the  left.  They  won't  hear  our  voices  in  this  din." 

Another  half-minute  and  the  soldiers  and  volunteers  were 
running  at  the  top  of  their  speed,  but  keeping  well  together, 
towards  the  town.  They  had  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards'  start, 
and  also  the  advantage  that  the  blacks  had  been  coming 
forward  at  a  run  for  over  half  a  mile.  Therefore,  although 
the  latter  came  on  with  yells  of  triumph  and  exultation,  they 
did  not  gain  on  the  little  party.  Indeed,  when  they  once 
entered  the  native  town  the  French  considerably  increased 
their  distance,  for  the  negroes,  fearing  that  they  might  fall 
into  an  ambush,  came  along  more  carefully. 

"  Post  your  men  at  the  windows  of  the  houses  opposite  to 
you/'  Nat  said  to  the  French  lieutenant. 

"  Did  you  send  your  messenger  on  ?  "  he  asked,  as  he  ran  up 
to  the  volunteer  officer. 

The  latter  gave  an  exclamation  of  horror. 

"  No,  I  forgot  all  about  it." 

"  So  did  I,  or  I  should  have  reminded  you  of  it.  Give  it  to 
one  of  the  men  now,  and  tell  him  to  take  it  as  hard  as  he 
can  run.  Tell  your  men  off  in  threes  and  fours  to  the  houses 
opposite.  I  have  no  doubt  we  can  keep  them  in  check  till  help 
comes." 

Thompson  was  waiting  in  the  street  as  the  party  ran  up. 

"  Where  have  you  posted  your  men  ?  "  Nat  asked  him. 

"  I  thought  most  likely  that  they  would  come  down  this 
street,  so  I  put  four  men  in  each  of  the  two  houses  facing  it, 
seven  are  in  the  two  houses  facing  the  next  street  coming 
down,  the  rest  are  here." 


280  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Nat  hurried  up  to  the  French  officer. 

' '  My  men  are  in  the  two  houses  facing  this  and  the  next 
street,  will  you  occupy  the  houses  next  them,  and  tell  the 
officer  of  the  volunteers  to  scatter  his  men  in  twos  and  threes 
in  the  other  houses.  Doctor,  you  had  better  join  the  party 
in  the  house  facing  the  next  street ;  and  do  you,  Mr.  Thompson, 
place  yourself  with  five  men  in  the  house  facing  the  street 
beyond.  We  shall  have  the  brunt  of  it,  for  they  are  more 
likely  to  come  by  these  streets  than  by  those  near  the  harbour, 
knowing,  as  they  do,  that  our  ship  is  lying  anchored  off  there." 

It  was  three  or  four  minutes  before  Nat,  from  the  window 
at  which  he  had  posted  himself,  saw  a  great  body  of  negroes 
and  mulattoes  coming  along  the  street  facing  him. 

"  Open  fire  at  once,  lads,"  he  said.  "  Take  good  aim ; 
every  shot  ought  to  tell  in  that  crowd,  and  our  fire  will  let 
them  know  on  board  that  the  blacks  are  close  at  hand." 

Yelling,  shouting,  and  brandishing  their  weapons,  the 
insurgents  poured  down.  The  fire  from  the  next  two  parties 
had  showed  that  the  negroes  were  also  advancing  by  the 
streets  above. 

A  minute  later  three  black  columns  poured  into  Royal 
Street,  and  as  they  did  so  a  fire  broke  out  from  every  window 
facing  them.  Then  came  a  deep  roar,  and  a  storm  of  grape 
swept  along  the  street;  another  and  another  followed,  and 
with  yells  of  surprise  and  fear  the  rioters  rushed  back  into 
shelter,  leaving  the  streets  strewn  with  dead  and  dying.  It 
was  some  minutes  before  they  could  rally,  and  in  the  mean- 
time three  of  the  guns  of  the  Agile  sent  ball  after  ball  among 
the  houses  to  the  west  of  the  street.  Three  times  did  the 
negroes  attempt  to  cross  the  fatal  road,  but  each  time  they 
fell  back  with  heavy  loss,  which  was  specially  severe  in  their 
last  attempt,  as  the  main  body  of  the  volunteers  had  now 
come  up,  entered  by  the  backs  of  the  houses  and  joined  the 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  281 

defenders,  and  the  fire  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  muskets 
played  terrible  havoc  among  the  assailants.  There  was  a 
pause  in  the  fight  now,  and  the  ship's  broadside  continued  to 
sweep  the  native  town  with  balls  while  an  occasional  spurt  of 
musketry  fire  broke  out  when  the  blacks  showed  themselves 
in  any  of  the  streets.  Suddenly  from  a  score  of  houses  in  the 
native  town  smoke,  followed  speedily  by  flames,  mounted  up. 

"  The  scoundrels  have  fired  the  town,"  exclaimed  Doyle, 
who  had  now  joined  Nat.  "  They  see  they  have  no  chance  of 
crossing  here,  and  as  they  cannot  plunder  the  place  they  have 
made  up  their  mind  to  destroy  it." 

"  Yes,  and  they  are  likely  to  succeed,  doctor,  the  wind  is 
blowing  this  way.  Half  the  native  houses  are  roofed  with 
palm  leaves,  and  will  burn  like  tinder.  Our  only  chance  now 
is  to  drive  the  blacks  out  altogether  and  then  fight  the  fire." 

He  at  once  sent  a  sailor  down  with  a  flag  to  signal  to  the 
ship  to  stop  firing,  then  he  went  out  into  the  street.  As  soon 
as  he  was  seen  he  was  joined  by  the  French  lieutenant  and  the 
commander,  with  several  officers  of  the  volunteers,  together 
with  Monsieur  Pickard. 

"I  think,  gentlemen,"  Nat  said,  "that  unless  we  take  the 
offensive  and  drive  the  blacks  out  of  the  town  there  will  be 
little  hope  of  extinguishing  the  fire.  The  wind  is  blowing 
strongly  in  this  direction,  and  there  is  not  a  moment  to  be 
lost  if  we  are  to  save  the  town.  The  negroes  must  be  thor- 
oughly demoralized,  they  must  have  lost  over  a  thousand  men 
here  and  three  or  four  hundred  before  they  entered  the  town. 
It  is  quite  likely  that  they  have  retreated  already,  but  in  any 
case  I  do  not  anticipate  any  serious  resistance." 

The  others  at  once  agreed.  The  drums  were  beaten,  and 
the  volunteers,  soldiers,  and  sailors  poured  out  from  the  houses, 
and  then,  dividing  into  three  columns,  advanced  down  the 
streets  through  which  the  blacks  had  retired.  They  met  with 


282  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

no  resistance.  A  few  negroes  who  had  entered  houses  to  gather 
plunder  were  shot  down  as  they  issued  out,  but  with  these 
exceptions  none  of  the  enemy  were  seen  until  the  columns 
issued  from  the  town,  when  the  negroes  could  be  seen  retreat- 
ing at  a  run  across  the  plain.  The  French  officer  at  once  ran 
forward  with  his  men  to  the  little  battery,  and  sent  shot  after 
shot  among  them,  for  they  were  still  less  than  half  a  mile 
away.  The  sailors  and  volunteers  slung  their  muskets  behind 
them,  and,  running  back,  endeavoured  to  check  the  course  of 
the  flames.  This,  however,  was  impossible.  The  fire  spread 
from  house  to  house  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  The  wind 
hurled  the  burning  flakes  on  ahead,  dropping  many  upon  the 
inflammable  roofs,  and  in  twenty  minutes  the  whole  quarter 
west  of  Royal  Street  was  in  flames.  Nat  was  now  joined  by 
Turnbull  and  all  the  crew,  the  two  negroes,  who  had  been 
sent  off  to  the  ship  with  the  boats,  alone  remaining  in  charge 
of  the  vessel. 

"We  have  beaten  the  negroes,  Turnbull,  but  the  fire  will 
beat  us.  If  this  wind  continues  it  will  sweep  the  whole  town 
away.  It  is  useless  to  try  and  save  any  of  these  native  houses. 
Look  at  the  burning  flakes  flying  over  our  heads  ! " 

After  a  short  consultation  with  the  French  officers  they 
agreed  that  the  only  chance  was  to  arrest  the  fire  at  the  edge  of 
the  European  quarter,  and  that  the  whole  force  should  at  once 
set  to  work  to  pull  down  the  native  houses  adjoining  them. 
The  sound  of  cannon  on  the  other  side  of  the  town  had  con- 
tinued until  now,  but  it  gradually  ceased,  as  the  news  reached 
the  negroes  there  that  the  main  attack,  of  whose  success  they 
had  felt  sure,  had  hopelessly  failed,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
the  troops  from  the  batteries  came  up  to  assist  the  workers. 
Their  labours,  however,  were  in  vain.  A  shout  of  dismay 
called  the  attention  of  the  men  who,  half-blinded  with  the 
dust  and  smoke,  were  working  their  utmost.  Looking  round, 


THE  ATTACK   ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE  283 

they  saw  that  the  flames  were  mounting  up  from  several  of  the 
houses  behind  them.  The  wood-work  was  everywhere  as  dry 
as  tinder,  and  the  burning  flakes,  which  were  falling  thickly 
upon  them,  had  set  the  houses  on  fire  in  a  dozen  places. 

"  We  can  do  nothing  raore,  sir,"  the  officer  in  command  of 
the  troops  said.  "  The  business  part  of  the  town  is  doomed. 
All  that  we  could  even  hope  to  save  are  the  detached  houses 
standing  in  gardens  and  shrubberies." 

So  it  turned  out.  The  flames  swept  onward  until  the 
business  quarter,  as  well  as  the  native  town,  was  completely 
burnt  out,  and  it  needed  all  the  efforts  of  the  soldiers  and 
inhabitants  to  prevent  the  private  residences  of  the  merchants 
and  planters  from  being  ignited  by  the  burning  fragments 
scattered  far  and  wide  by  the  wind.  It  was  noon  when  the 
officers  and  crew  of  the  Agile,  accompanied  by  M.  Pickard  — 
who  was,  like  all  the  rest  blackened  by  the  dust  and  smoke  — 
returned  on  board. 

"  Well,  that  has  been  as  hot  a  morning's  work  as  I  ever 
went  through,"  Turnbull  said.  "  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  a 
battle  has  been  fought  and  a  town  destroyed  in  the  course  of 
about  five  hours." 

"  Yes ;  I  think  on  the  whole  we  may  be  very  well  satisfied, 
Turnbull,  though  I  suppose  the  people  who  have  lost  their 
houses  and  stores  will  hardly  see  it  in  the  same  light.  Still, 
they  saved  their  lives,  and  at  any  rate,  Monsieur  Pickard,  you 
can  be  congratulated  on  having  got  all  your  goods  on  board 
just  in  time." 

"  I  am  thankful  indeed  that  it  is  so,"  the  planter  said.  "  I 
hope,  of  course,  to  get  something  for  my  estate.  As  to  the 
house,  after  what  we  have  seen  here  I  cannot  set  much  value 
on  it.  What  has  happened  this  morning  may  happen  at  Cape 
Francois  to-morrow.  They  might  not  be  able  to  take  it,  but 
a  dozen  negroes  choosing  their  time  when  a  strong  wind  is 


284  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

blowing,  and  starting  the  fires  in  as  many  places,  might  level 
the  town  to  the  ground.  At  any  rate,  I  shall  direct  the  czfptain 
of  the  brig  to  sail  at  once  for  Kingston,  and  to  deliver  the 
cargo  to  my  agent  there,  and  shall  proceed  myself  to  Cape 
Francois.  I  wish  to  learn  whether  the  bank  there  has  sent  off 
its  funds  and  securities  to  some  safer  place,  or  is  retaining  them. 
In  the  latter  case  I  shall  withdraw  them  at  once,  and  shall  put 
up  my  estates  for  sale." 

"  I  will  give  you  a  passage,  Monsieur  Pickard.  I  have 
nothing  more  to  stay  here  for,  and  shall  sail  up  the  coast  to- 
morrow morning." 

"  Thank  you  very  much ;  I  accept  your  offer  with  gladness. 
I  am  anxious  to  close  all  my  connection  with  this  unfortunate 
island  as  soon  as  possible." 

In  the  afternoon  the  governor  of  the  town,  with  the  officer 
commanding  the  troops,  the  maire,  and  a  deputation  of  the 
leading  citizens,  came  off  to  thank  Nat  for  the  assistance  that 
his  crew  and  guns  had  rendered.  They  brought  with  them 
an  official  document  rehearsing  these  services,  and  saying  that 
had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance  they  had  rendered,  the  town 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  captured  by  the  blacks,  and 
probably  all  the  whites  on  shore  massacred,  together  with 
their  wives  and  families,  who  had  taken  refuge  on  board  the 
shipping.  The  commandant  stated  that  this  document  would 
be  sent  to  the  British  admiral  at  Kingston.  Nat  replied 
very  modestly,  saying  that  both  the  officers  and  men  on  board 
had  rejoiced  at  being  able  to  render  a  service  in  the  cause  of 
humanity,  and  that  he  was  only  acting  in  accordance  with  the 
orders  he  had  received  from  the  admiral  t&  afford  every  aid 
in  his  power  to  the  white  population  of  the  island. 

After  this  official  visit  many  of  the  merchants,  planters,  and 
military  officers  came  off  individually  to  thank  him  for  having 
saved  their  wives  and  families  by  the  protection  that  he  had 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  285 

afforded  to  the  shipping,  and  by  the  aid  given  by  his  guns 
and  the  landing-party,  which  had  alone  saved  the  town  from 
capture.  At  daybreak  next  morning  the  Agile  got  up  her 
anchor  and  started  for  the  north.  The  brig  containing  Mon- 
sieur Pickard's  property  had  sailed  the  previous  afternoon,  and 
the  rest  of  the  shipping  were  preparing  to  start  at  the  time 
the  Agile  got  up  anchor.  All  of  them  were  crowded  with 
fugitives,  the  women  and  children  being  now  joined  by  many 
of  their  male  relatives,  who  had  lost  almost  all  they  possessed 
by  the  destruction  of  their  homes  and  warehouses. 

The  next  morning  the  brigantine  arrived  at  Cape  Francois. 
The  news  she  brought  of  the  destruction  of  Port-au-Prince 
caused  great  excitement,  as  it  was  felt  that  the  fate  that  had 
befallen  one  town  might  well  happen  to  another.  Monsieur 
Pickard  at  once  went  to  the  bank,  where  he  found  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  specie  and  all  valuable  documents  had 
already  been  sent  for  safety  to  Jamaica,  and  he  received  an 
order  upon  the  bank  there  for  the  payment  to  him  of  the 
money  he  had  placed  on  deposit  in  the  bank,  and  of  the  vari- 
ous securities  and  documents  that  had  been  held  in  safe-keep- 
ing for  him.  He  then  went  to  pay  a  visit  to  Monsieur 
Duchesne,  to  whose  house  Nat,  who  had  landed  with  him, 
had  gone  direct.  The  family  were  delighted  to  see  him. 

"  You  may  expect  another  visitor  shortly,"  he  said.  "  Mon- 
sieur Pickard  has  come  on  shore  with  me ;  he  has  gone  to  the 
bank  now,  but  said  that  he  would  come  on  here  later." 

"Then  he  has  escaped,"  Madame  Duchesne  exclaimed. 
"  We  had  hardly  even  hoped  that  he  and  his  family  had 
done  so,  for  we  knew  that  the  blacks  had  risen  everywhere  in 
that  part  of  the  island." 

"  Yes,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  he,  Madame  Pickard,  and  his 
two  daughters,  all  got  safely  away ;  in  fact,  they  all  came  off 
to  my  craft  —  not  the  Agilc^  you  know,  but  to  the  Arrow  ;  and 


286  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  taking  them  as  passengers  to  Jamaica, 
where  the  ladies  still  are." 

"That  is  good  news  indeed,"  Myra  said.  "Valerie  is  a 
great  friend  of  mine.  Of  course  Louise  is  younger,  but  I  was 
very  fond  of  her  too.  The  year  before  last  I  spent  a  couple  of 
months  with  them  at  their  plantation ;  and,  as  I  daresay  they 
told  you,  they  are  always  here  for  three  or  four  months  in  the 
winter  season." 

Nat  then  told  them  what  had  taken  place  at  Port-au-Prince, 
and  how  he  and  his  men  had  taken  part  in  the  fight. 

"  It  is  terrible  news  indeed,"  said  M.  Duchesne ;  "  and  one 
can  scarcely  feel  safe  here.  Port-au-Prince  is  the  largest  town 
in  Hayti,  with  the  exception  only  of  this,  which  is  quite  as 
open  to  the  danger  of  fire.  I  think  this  will  decide  us  on 
leaving.  Matters  seem  going  from  bad  to  worse.  I  don't  know 
whether  you  know  that  three  commissioners  have  arrived  from 
France.  So  far  from  improving  the  state  of  things,  they  are 
making  them  worse  every  day.  As  far  as  can  be  seen,  they 
are  occupied  solely  in  filling  their  own  pockets;  they  have 
enormously  increased  the  taxation,  and  that  at  a  time  when 
everyone  is  on  the  verge  of  ruin.  No  account  is  given  of  the 
sums  they  collect,  and  certainly  the  money  has  not  been  spent 
in  taking  any  measures  either  for  the  safety  of  the  town  or  for 
the  suppression  of  the  insurrection.  I  have  wound  up  all  my 
affairs  here,  and  have  disposed  of  our  plantations.  There  are 
many  who  still  believe  that  in  time  everything  will  come  right 
again  ;  I  have  myself  no  hope.  Even  if  we  got  peaceful  posses- 
sion of  our  estates,  there  would  be  no  hands  to  work  them. 
The  freedom  of  all  the  blacks  has  been  voted  by  that  mad 
assembly  in  Paris  ;  and  if  there  is  one  thing  more  certain  than 
another,  it  is  that  the  negroes  will  not  work  until  they  are 
obliged  to,  so  the  estates  will  be  practically  worthless.  There- 
fore I  have  accepted  an  offer  for  a  sum  which  is  about  a 


THE  ATTACK  ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  287 

quarter  of  what  the  estate  was  worth  before,  and  consider  that 
it  is  so  much  saved  out  of  the  fire." 

"  Monsieur  Pickard  is  of  exactly  the  same  opinion  as  you 
are,"  Nat  said,  "  and  has  come  here  principally  for  the  purpose 
of  disposing  of  his  estate  on  any  terms  that  he  can  obtain." 

"  Well,  I  do  not  think  he  will  find  any  difficulty  in  getting 
about  the  same  proportion  of  value  as  we  have  done.  The 
rich  mulattoes  are  buying  freely,  and,  as  I  say,  some  of  the 
whites  are  doing  the  same.  Ah,  here  he  is! 

"  Ah,  my  dear  Pickard,  we  are  glad  indeed  to  see  you,  and 
to  learn  from  our  friend  here  that  your  wife  and  daughters  are 
safe  in  Jamaica." 

"  We  have  been  very  anxious  about  you,"  Madanse  Duchesne 
said ;  "  and  Myra  has  been  constantly  talking  of  your  family." 

"  It  was  the  same  with  us,  I  can  assure  you,  madame ;  and  it 
is  strange  that  we  should  first  have  obtained  tidings  of  your 
safety  from  Monsieur  Glover,  and  that  you  should  also  have 
obtained  news  of  ours  from  him.  Still  more  so  that  while 
he  has,  as  he  said  to  us,  been  of  some  little  service  to  you  — 
but  which,  we  learnt  from  one  of  his  officers,  seems  to  have 
been  considerable  —  it  is  to  him  that  we  also  owe  our  lives." 

"  Little  service  !  "  Madame  Duchesne  repeated  indignantly. 
"  However,  we  know  Monsieur  Glover  of  old.  First  of  all  he 
saved  Myra's  life  from  that  dog,  and  certainly  he  saved  both 
our  lives  from  the  negroes.  And  did  he  save  yours  ?  He  has 
just  told  us  that  you  came  on  board  with  him,  and  that  he 
took  you  to  Jamaica.  Still,  that  is  not  like  what  he  did 
for  us." 

"That  is  one  way  of  putting  it,  madame,"  Monsieur  Pick- 
ard said  with  a  smile ;  "  but  as  you  say  you  know  him  of 
old,  you  will  not  be  surprised  at  the  little  story  that  I  have  to 
tell  you." 

"  Not  now,  Monsieur  Pickard,"  Nat  said  hastily,  "  or  if  you 


288  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

do  I  shall  say  good-bye  to  Madame  Duchesne  at  once,  and 
go  straight  on  board." 

"  You  must  not  do  that,"  Madame  Duchesne  said  as  he  rose 
to  his  feet ;  "  you  have  only  just  arrived,  and  we  are  not 
going  to  let  you  off  so  easily." 

"We  will  compromise,  "  her  husband  said.  "Now,  Mon- 
sieur Glover,  you  know  that  my  wife  and  daughter  will  be 
dying  of  curiosity  until  they  hear  this  story.  Suppose  you 
take  a  turn  down  the  town  with  me.  I  will  go  and  enquire 
whether  there  is  any  ship  likely  to  sail  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days  or  so  for  Jamaica.  Then  Monsieur  Pickard  can  tell 
his  story,  and  my  wife  can  retail  it  to  me  later  on.  You  see, 
Monsieur  Pickard's  wife  and  daughters  are  great  friends  of 
ours,  and  madame  and  Myra  naturally  wish  to  hear  what  has 
happened  to  them  during  this  terrible  time." 

"  Very  well,"  Nat  said  with  a  laugh,  "  I  don't  mind  accepting 
that  compromise ;  but  really  I  do  hate  hearing  things  talked 
over  which  were  just  ordinary  affairs.  But  remember  that 
Monsieur  Pickard  naturally  will  make  a  great  deal  more  of 
them  than  they  are  worth,  since,  no  doubt,  the  outcome 
of  them  was  that  he  and  his  family  did  get  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  blacks  in  consequence.  Now,  Monsieur  Duchesne,  I  will 
start  with  you  at  once,  so  that  madame  and  Myra's  curiosity 
may  be  satisfied  as  soon  as  possible." 

Monsieur  Duchesne  took  Nat  first  to  call  upon  the  three 
commissioners,  who  happened  to  be  gathered  in  council.  The 
commandant  at  Port-au-Prince  had  asked  him  to  convey  the 
report  he  had  hastily  drawn  up  of  the  attack  on  the  town. 
This  he  had  sent  ashore  as  soon  as  he  anchored;  and  the 
commissioners  were  discussing  the  news  when  Nat  and  Mon- 
sieur Duchesne  were  shown  in. 

"  I  thought,  gentlemen,"  Nat  said,  "  that  you  might  perhaps 
like  to  ask  me  questions  upon  any  point  that  was  not  explained 


THE   ATTACK   ON   PORT-AU-PRINCE  289 

in  the  commandant's  report,  which  was,  as  he  told  me,  drawn 
up  in  great  haste ;  for  with  four-fifths  of  the  town  laid  in 
ashes,  and  the  population  homeless  and  unprovided  with  food, 
his  hands  were  full  indeed." 

"  Thank  you,  Lieutenant  Glover.  The  report  does  full  justice 
to  your  interposition  in  our  favour,  and  indeed  states  that  had 
it  not  been  for  the  assistance  rendered  by  yourself  and  the 
ship  of  war  you  command,  the  town  would  unquestionably 
have  been  carried  by  the  insurgents,  and  that  the  whole  of  the 
whites,  including  the  troops,  would  probably  have  been  mas- 
sacred. Had  this  been  done,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  so 
greatly  encouraged  the  rioters  that  we  could  hardly  have  hoped 
to  maintain  our  hold  even  of  this  city." 

"I  was  only  carrying  out  the  orders  that  I  received  in 
landing  to  protect  the  white  inhabitants  from  massacre,  gentle- 
men." 

"  In  your  opinion,  is  anyone  to  blame  for  the  course  events 
took?" 

"  Even  had  I  that  opinion,"  Nat  said,  "  I  should  certainly 
not  consider  myself  justified  in  criticising  the  action  of  the 
officers  and  authorities  of  a  foreign  power.  However,  the 
circle  of  the  town  was  too  large  to  be  defended  by  the  force 
available,  of  whom  half  were  volunteers,  ready  to  fight  most 
gallantly,  as  I  can  testify,  but  not  possessing  the  discipline  of 
trained  troops.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  even  had 
batteries  been  erected  all  round  the  town,  the  insurgents  could 
have  been  prevented  from  effecting  an  entrance  at  some  points, 
and  setting  fire  to  the  houses.  They  advanced  with  great 
determination,  in  spite  of  the  destructive  grape  fire  maintained 
by  the  three  guns  of  the  battery.  Undoubtedly  had  the 
batteries  been  placed  together  on  that  side,  as  on  the  one 
at  which  it  was  thought  probable  that  the  attack  would  be 
made,  the  insurgents  might  have  been  repulsed,  but  it  would 

'9 


290  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

have  needed  a  much  larger  force  than  that  in  the  town  to 
man  all  those  batteries.  And  I  think  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable  that  even  in  that  case  the  town  might  have  been 
burnt ;  for  there  were  still  a  large  number  of  negroes  em- 
ployed on  the  wharves  and  in  the  warehouses,  and  you  may 
take  it  as  certain  that  some  of  these  were  in  close  communica- 
tion with  the  insurgents,  and  probably  agreed  to  fire  the  town 
should  their  friends  fail  to  effect  an  entrance.  I  can  only  say, 
sir,  that  the  citizens  enrolled  for  defence  fought  most  gallantly, 
as  did,  the  small  party  of  soldiers  manning  the  battery  on  that 
side,  and  that  when  the  fighting  was  over  all  laboured  nobly 
to  check  the  progress  of  the  flames." 

Several  questions  were  put  to  him  concerning  the  details 
of  the  fighting,  and  the  measures  that  had  been  taken  for  the 
safety  of  the  women  and  children,  the  part  his  own  men 
played,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  insurgents,  after  gaining 
a  footing  in  the  town,  had  been  prevented  from  obtaining 
entire  possession  of  it.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  interview, 
which  had  lasted  for  upwards  of  two  hours,  the  commissioners 
thanked  Nat  very  cordially. 

"You  see,"  Monsieur  Duchesne  said,  when  they  left  the 
governor's  house,  "  they  asked  no  single  question  as  to  whether 
you  thought  there  was  any  danger  of  a  similar  catastrophe 
taking  place  here." 

"Yes,  I  noticed  they  did  not.  If  they  had,  I  could  have 
told  them  very  plainly  that,  although  the  negroes  suffered 
very  heavily,  yet  the  news  that  the  second  town  in  Hayti  had 
been  almost  destroyed  would  be  sure  to  raise  their  hopes,  and 
that  I  consider  it  extremely  probable  that  some  day  or  other 
this  town  will  also  be  attacked,  and  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
putting  it  into  a  state  of  thorough  defence.  I  can't  say  that 
they  impressed  me  at  all  favourably." 

"  Short  as  is  the  time  that  they  have  been  here,  they  have 


THE  ATTACK  ON  PORT-AU-PRINCE  291 

managed  to  excite  all  parties  against  them.  They  have  issued 
an  amnesty,  pardoning  even  those  who  have  committed  the 
most  frightful  atrocities  upon  us.  They  have  infuriated  a 
portion  of  the  mulattoes  by  announcing  the  repeal  of  the  decree 
in  their  favour.  Without  a  shadow  of  legal  authority  they 
have  extorted  large  sums  of  money  from  those  mulattoes  who 
have  remained  quiet  and  are  resident  here,  and  seem  bent 
upon  extracting  all  that  remains  of  their  late  fortune  from  the 
whites.  One  of  them  is  frequently  drunk  and  leads  a  scanda- 
lous life ;  another  appears  bent  solely  upon  enriching  himself ; 
the  third  seems  to  be  a  well-meaning  man,  but  he  is  wholly 
under  the  control  of  his  drunken  companion.  If  this  is  the 
sort  of  aid  we  are  to  receive  from  France,  our  future  is  hopeless 
indeed.  And,  indeed,  no  small  portion  of  my  friends  begin  to  see 
that  unless  England  takes  possession  of  the  island  the  future  is 
altogether  hopeless.  The  general  opinion  here  is  that  it  is 
impossible  that  peace  can  much  longer  be  maintained  between 
England  and  France,  and  they  hope  that  one  of  the  first  steps 
England  will  take  after  war  is  declared  will  be  to  land  an  army 
here." 

"  If  the  English  government  were  persuaded  that  the 
mulattoes  and  negroes  as  well  as  the  whites  were  favourable, 
I  should  think  that  the  island  might  be  annexed  without 
difficulty ;  but  unless  all  parties  are  agreed  I  cannot  think  that 
a  force  could  be  spared  that  could  even  hope  for  success.  It 
would  have  been  an  easy  task  before  the  mulattoes  and  the 
slaves  learned  their  own  strength,  but  it  is  a  very  different 
thing  now ;  and  I  should  say  that  it  would  need  at  least  five- 
and-twenty  thousand  men,  and  perhaps  even  twice  that  number, 
to  reduce  the  island  to  submission  and  to  restore  peace  and 
order.  I  cannot  think  that,  engaged  in  a  war  with  France, 
England  would  be  able  to  spare  anything  like  that  force  for  a 
difficult  and  almost  certainly  a  long  series  of  operations  here." 


292  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

By  this  time  they  had  arrived  at  Monsieur  Duchesne's  house. 

"  Our  friend  has  only  just  finished  his  story,"  Madame 
Duchesne  said,  as  he  entered.  "  What  a  story  !  what  frightful 
sufferings  !  what  horrors  !  and,"  she  added  with  a  smile,  though 
her  eyes  were  full  of  tears  —  "  what  '  little '  service  rendered  by 
you  and  your  brave  crew  !  He  has  told  it  all,  and  of  your  fight 
afterwards  with  that  terrible  pirate,  and  how  you  have  added 
to  the  list  of  those  you  have  saved  from  terrible  deaths  some 
eighteen  or  twenty  Spanish  gentlemen  and  ladies,  and  twice  as 
many  sailors." 

"  Yes,  I  have  had  wonderful  luck,"  Nat  said ;  "  and  you  see 
I  have  been  well  rewarded.  I  am  only  just  out  of  my  time  as 
a  midshipman,  and  I  am  in  command  of  a  fine  ship,  which,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  things,  I  could  not  have  hoped  for  for 
another  eight  or  ten  years.  I  have  gained  a  considerable 
amount  of  prize-money,  and  best  of  all,  the  friendship  of  your- 
selves and  the  family  of  Monsieur  Pickard.  And  the  real 
author  of  all  this  is  Mademoiselle  Myra,  who  was  good  enough 
to  have  that  little  quarrel  with  her  aunt's  dog  just  at  the  time 
that  I  happened  to  be  passing." 

This  raised  a  laugh,  which  in  Myra's  case  became  almost 
hysterical,  and  her  mother  had  to  take  her  out  of  the  room. 

"  Now,  Monsieur  Duchesne,  I  will  take  this  opportunity  of 
returning  on  board.  I  promised  you  that  I  would  come  ashore 
and  dine  with  you  this  evening,  but  I  must  really  make  its 
fulfilment  conditional  upon  your  assuring  me  that  there  shall 
be  no  allusion  to  any  of  my  adventures." 

"At  any  rate,  I  will  impress  upon  my  wife  and  daughter 
that  the  subject  must  be  tabooed,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
they  will  do  their  best  to  avoid  it,  if  they  can  keep  away  from 
the  topic  that  cannot  but  be  present  in  their  minds.  After 
hearing  Monsieur  Pickard's  story  —  of  which,  as  you  must 
remember,  I  am  at  present  wholly  ignorant  —  you  see  that, 


A   MESSAGE   FROM   TOUSSAINT   L  OUVERTURE. 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  293 

intimate  as  the  two  families  have  been,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  they  should  have  been  greatly  affected  by  it,  especially 
as  for  the  last  month  they  have  been  mourning  for  them  as 
dead." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE 

r  I  AHE  Agile  only  remained  for  two  days  at  Cape  Francois,  but 
JL  in  that  time  Nat  had  learned  enough  of  the  doings  of  the 
French  commissioners  to  see  that  the  position  was  becoming 
hourly  more  and  more  hopeless,  and  nought  short  of  the  arrival 
of  a  powerful  army  from  France  under  a  capable  commander, 
without  political  bias  and  with  supreme  authority,  or  the  taking 
over  of  the  island  by  the  English,  could  bring  back  peace  and 
prosperity.  He  was,  however,  rejoiced  to  know  that  Monsieur 
Duchesne  had  already  taken  passages  for  himself,  his  wife  and 
daughter,  and  the  old  nurse,  to  Jamaica,  and  would  leave  in  a 
few  days ;  and  that  Monsieur  Pickard  had  received  and  accepted 
an  offer  for  his  estate,  which  was  at  least  as  good  as  he  had 
hoped  for,  and  would  also  return  to  Kingston  as  soon  as  the 
necessary  documents  could  be  prepared  and  signed. 

For  some  weeks  the  Agile  cruised  backwards  and  forwards 
along  the  coast  of  Hayti  without  adventure.  Nat  had  endeav- 
oured, but  unsuccessfully,  to  open  communication  with  the 
blacks  under  Biassou  and  Francois,  the  two  chief  negro  leaders. 
It  was  seldom,  indeed,  that  he  caught  sight  of  a  human  being 
except  when  cruising  in  the  bay.  The  mountains  along  both 
the  north  and  the  south  coast  were  thinly  populated.  The  white 
planters  and  employees  had  perished  to  a  man,  and  all  the 
smaller  villages  had  been  deserted.  St.  Louis,  Jacmel,  Fesle, 


294  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

and  Sale  Trou  were  occupied  by  small  bodies  of  French  troops, 
but  most  of  the  settlers  had  left ;  and  the  whole  of  the  negroes 
had  from  the  first  taken  to  the  mountains.  The  same  was  the 
case  at  Port  Dauphin,  Port  de  Paix,  Le  Cap,  and  St.  Nicholas 
on  the  north.  It  was  at  St.  Nicholas  that  he  was  for  the  first 
time  able  to  open  communication  with  the  negroes.  He  had 
anchored  in  the  bay,  and,  among  the  native  boats  that  came  off 
to  sell  fruit  and  fresh  meat,  was  one  in  which  a  mulatto  of 
shabby  appearance  was  seated  in  the  stern.  As  the  boat  came 
alongside  he  stood  up,  and  said  to  Turnbull,  who  was  leaning 
on  the  rail  watching  the  sailors  bargaining  with  the  negroes : 

"  Can  I  speak  with  the  captain,  sir  ?  I  have  a  message  for 
him." 

"Yes,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  will  see  you.  Come  on 
deck." 

The  man  climbed  up  the  side,  and  followed  Turnbull  aft  to 
where  Nat  was  sitting. 

"  This  man  wants  to  speak  to  you,  sir." 

"I  am  the  bearer  of  a  letter,"  he  said,  "to  the  English 
officer  commanding  this  ship,"  and  he  handed  him  a  very  small 
note.  It  was  as  follows  :  — 

Sir,  —  As  there  are  rumours  that  some  of  the  people  of  this 
island  have  opened  negotiations  with  the  governor  of  Jamaica,  we, 
who  represent  the  coloured  people  of  this  country,  will  be  glad  to 
have  a  conversation  with  you,  and  to  learn  from  you  what  would 
probably  be  the  conditions  on  which  your  country  would  be  likely 
to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  this  island.  What  would  be  the  con- 
dition of  the  coloured  people  here  if  they  did  so  ?  Should  we  be 
guaranteed  our  freedom  and  rights  as  men,  or  would  it  mean 
merely  a  change  of  masters  ?  If  you  are  willing  to  accede  to  this 
invitation,  I  will  personally  guarantee  your  safety,  and  that, 
whatever  the  result  of  our  conversation  might  be,  you  shall  be  es- 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  295 

corted  in  safety  back  to  your  ship.  We  are  willing  that  you 
should  be  accompanied  by  not  more  than  six  of  your  sailors,  for 
whose  safety  I  would  be  equally  responsible.  The  bearer  of  this 
will  arrange  with  you  as  to  the  point  and  hour  at  which  you 
would  land. 

This  was  signed  "  Toussaint." 

Nat  remembered  the  name. 

"  Is  the  writer  of  this  the  man  who  was  the  coachman  of 
Monsieur  Bayou,  the  agent  of  the  Count  de  Noe'  ? " 

"  The  same,  sir.  He  is  now  next  in  command  to  Biassou  and 
Francois.  He  is  greatly  respected  among  the  negroes,  and  is 
their  chief  doctor." 

"  I  have  met  him,  and  know  that  he  is  worthy  of  confidence. 
This  is  just  what  we  have  been  wanting,  Turnbull,"  he  said, 
handing  the  letter  to  him. 

"  Then  you  know  this  man  ?  "  Turnbull  said,  after  he  had  read 
it,  and  stepped  a  few  paces  away  from  the  messenger,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  converse  unheard  by  him. 

"  Yes,  he  is  one  of  the  few  who  remained  faithful  at  the 
rising,  concealed  his  master  and  family  in  the  woods,  and  got 
them  safely  off.  I  had  an  interview  with  him,  and  endeavoured 
to  get  him  to  do  as  much  for  Madame  Duchesne,  but  he  refused, 
saying  that  he  had  done  his  duty  to  his  master  and  must  now 
do  it  to  his  countrymen.  I  had  frequently  spoken  with  him 
before.  He  bore  a  very  high  character,  and  was  much  re- 
spected by  all  the  negroes  in  the  plantations  round.  As  you 
see,  he  writes  and  expresses  himself  well,  and  has,  indeed, 
received  a  very  fair  education,  and  is  as  intelligent  as  an 
ordinary  white  man.  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  can  place  confi- 
dence in  him." 

"  Perhaps  so,  but  the  question  is  not  whether  he  would  be 
willing,  but  whether  he  would  have  the  power,  to  ensure  your 


296  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

safety.  Biassou  is,  by  all  accounts,  a  perfect  monster  of 
cruelty." 

"Yes,  they  say  he  is  the  most  fiendish  of  all  these  savage 
brutes.  Of  course  I  must  risk  that.  My  instructions,  as  you 
know,  are  to  open  communication  with  the  negroes,  if  possible, 
and  ascertain  their  intentions.  This  is  the  first  opportunity 
that  has  offered,  and  I  can  hardly  expect  a  more  favourable 
one." 

"You  will  take  one  of  us  with  you,  I  hope." 

"No;  if  anything  happens  to  me  the  Agile  must  have  a 
captain,  and  you  would  want  at  least  one  officer." 

He  returned  to  the  mulatto. 

"  Shall  I  give  you  a  message  in  writing,  or  will  you  take  it 
by  word  of  mouth  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  want  writing,  sir ;  if  I  were  searched,  and  it  were 
found  that  I  was  an  agent  of  Toussaint,  I  should  be  hung  at 
once.  You  give  me  a  message,  and  I  will  repeat  it." 

"Tell  Toussaint  that  the  commander  of  this  ship  is  Mr. 
Glover,  whom  he  will  remember  to  have  seen  at  Monsieur 
Duchesne's  plantation  and  elsewhere,  and  who  knows  him  to 
be  an  honourable  man,  and  will  therefore  trust  himself  in  the 
mountains  relying  upon  his  promise  of  protection.  You 
understand  that?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Please  repeat  my  words." 

The  man  did  so. 

"  How  far  is  Toussaint  from  here  ?  " 

"  Six  hours'  journey  among  the  hills." 

"  Then  tell  him  that  I  will  land  to-morrow  night,  or  rather 
the  next  morning,  an  hour  before  daybreak  —  that  is  to  say,  at 
about  half-past  four.  That  time  will  be  best,  because  the  boat 
will  return  to  the  ship  before  it  is  light  enough  for  it  to  be 
seen.  Where  do  you  propose  that  I  shall  go?" 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  297 

"  You  see  that  rock  near  the  end  of  the  point  to  the  south  ?  — 
it  is  about  three  miles  from  there.  To  the  left  of  that  rock  is  a 
.sandy  beach,  which  is  a  good  place  for  landing.  Your  escort 
will  be  there  waiting  for  you." 

The  mulatto  bowed,  and  at  once  went  over  the  side  and  got 
into  his  boat,  while  the  two  men  who  had  rowed  him  out  were 
still  busy  selling  fruit  to  the  crew.  Nat  told  Sambo  to  go  and 
buy  some  fruit,  not  because  they  really  wanted  it,  for  a  supply 
had  already  been  bought,  but  in  order  that,  should  any  of  the 
negroes  in  the  other  boats  have  noticed  the  mulatto  coming  on 
board,  it  would  be  supposed  that  he  had  done  so  in  order  to 
persuade  the  steward  to  deal  with  him.  The  next  day  four 
picked  men  were  chosen  to  accompany  Nat.  They  were  to 
take  no  muskets  with  them,  but  each  was  to  carry,  in  addition 
to  his  cutlass,  a  pistol  in  his  belt,  and  another  concealed  in 
the  bosom  of  his  shirt.  The  absence  of  muskets  was  intended 
to  show  the  negroes  that  the  party  had  no  fear  as  to  their 
safety.  Nat  himself  intended  to  carry  only  his  sword,  and 
a  double-barrelled  pistol  in  his  belt.  At  four  o'clock  on  the 
following  morning,  he  and  the  four  men  took  their  places  in 
the  gig,  and  were  rowed  ashore  to  the  point  agreed  on.  As 
they  landed  a  negro  came  down  to  meet  them. 

"Toussaint  charged  me  to  tell  you,  sir,  that  he  has  sent 
twelve  men  down,  and  that  he  has  done  so  lest  you  should 
meet  other  parties  of  our  people  who  might  not  know  of  this 
safe-conduct  that  he  has  given  you." 

And  he  handed  a  document  to  Nat. 

"He  has  done  well,"  Nat  said.  "I  know  that  I  can  rely 
upon  Toussaint,  but  I  myself  have  thought  it  possible  that  we 
might  fall  in  with  men  of  other  bands,  and  I  have  therefore 
brought  four  of  my  sailors  with  me.  I  am  ready  to  start  with 
you  whenever  you  choose." 

"  We  will  go  on  at  once.    The  hills  are  very  close  here,  but 


298  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

it  is  best  that  we  should  be  well  among  them  before  it  is  day- 
light, or  we  might  be  noticed  by  someone  in  the  town.  They 
would  not  concern  themselves  much  with  us,  but  your  dress 
and  that  of  the  sailors  would  be  sure  to  cause  talk  and  excite 
suspicion  among  the  soldiers." 

He  went  up  to  some  negroes  standing  a  short  distance  away 
and  gave  them  an  order.  They  at  once  started.  He  himself 
took  his  place  by  Nat,  and  the  sailors  followed  close  behind. 

"  You  talk  French  very  well,"  Nat  said. 

"  Yes,  sir,  thanks  to  Toussaint  You  do  not  remember  me, 
though  I  should  know  you  were  it  daylight,  for  I  have  seen 
you  several  times  when  you  have  been  over  at  our  plantation 
with  Mademoiselle  Duchesne.  I  was  chief  helper  in  Monsieur 
Bayou's  stables.  Of  an  evening  Toussaint  had  a  sort  of  school, 
and  four  or  five  of  us  always  went  to  him,  and  I  learned  to  read 
and  write,  and  to  talk  French  as  the  whites  talk  it  and  not  as 
we  do.  He  is  a  good  man,  and  we  all  love  him.  There  are 
many  who  think  he  will  one  day  be  king  of  the  island ;  he 
knows  much  more  than  any  of  the  others.  But  it  may  be 
that  he  will  be  killed  before  that,  for  Biassou  hates  him  be- 
cause he  does  not  like  his  cruel  ways  and  speaks  boldly  against 
them,  which  no  one  else  dare  do,  not  even  Francois,  whom  we 
all  regard  as  equal  in  rank  to  him. 

"There  have  been  many  quarrels,  but  Biassou  knows  well 
enough  that  if  he  were  to  hurt  Toussaint  there  would  be  a 
general  outcry,  and  that  he  and  the  men  who  carried  out  his 
orders  would  assuredly  be  killed.  For  all  that  no  one  doubts 
that  he  would  get  Toussaint  removed  quietly  if  there  was 
a  chance  of  doing  so,  but  we  do  not  mean  to  give  him  the 
chance.  There  are  twenty  of  us  who  keep  guard  over  him. 
As  for  Toussaint,  he  is  not  like  the  others,  who,  when  there  is 
nothing  else  to  be  done,  spend  their  time  in  feasting  and 
drinking.  He  is  always  busy  attending  to  the  wounded  who 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  299 

are  brought  up  to  him,  or  the  sick,  of  whom  there  are  many, 
for  the  cold  air  in  the  mountains  has  brought  down  great 
numbers  with  the  fever,  especially  those  whose  plantations  lay 
on  the  plain,  and  who  were  accustomed  to  sleep  in  huts.  Very 
many  have  died,  but  Toussaint  has  saved  many,  and  were  it 
needed  he  could  have  two  hundred  for  his  guard  instead  of 
twenty. 

"  But  indeed  he  thinks  not  of  danger,  his  whole  thoughts 
are  taken  up  with  his  work;  and  he  is  often  without  regular 
sleep  for  nights  together,  so  great  is  the  need  for  his  services." 

The  ground  at  once  began  to  rise  rapidly,  and  before  the 
day  fairly  broke  they  were  high  among  the  hills.  When  it 
became  light  Nat  examined  the  document  Toussaint  had  sent 
to  him.  It  ran  as  follows :  — 

7,  Toussaint,  do  give  notice  to  all  that  I  have  given  this  safe- 
conduct  and  my  solemn  promise  for  his  safety  to  Monsieur  Glover, 
a  British  officer,  with  whom  I  desire  to  converse  on  matters  of 
importance. 

Then  followed  his  signature  and  a  great  seal  in  red  wax. 

"  It  was  the  one  Monsieur  Bayou  used,"  the  negro  said. 
"  Toussaint  brought  it  and  the  wax  from  his  office,  and  uses 
it  often,  so  that  we  may  all  recognize  it  when  we  see  it  —  for, 
as  you  know,  sir,  there  are  scarcely  any  of  our  people  who 
can  read." 

After  three  hours'  walking  the  man  pointed  out  a  wood  near 
the  crest  of  a  high  hill  a  mile  distant. 

"  Toussaint  is  there,"  he  said.  "  He  accompanied  us  to  that 
point  in  order  that  you  should  have  less  distance  to  travel." 

Nat  was  by  no  means  sorry  at  the  news.  The  way  had  been 
very  steep  and  difficult,  and  the  sun  had  now  gained  great 
power.  As  they  neared  the  edge  of  the  wood,  Touseaint  came 
out  to  meet  him. 


300  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  Monsieur  Glover,"  he  said  quietly. 
"  I  learned  from  our  people  at  Cape  Francois  that  you  had 
returned  there  with  Madame  Duchesne  and  her  daughter,  and 
I  rejoiced  indeed  at  your  escape,  which  seemed  to  me  marvel- 
lous, for  how  you  avoided  the  search  made  for  you  I  could 
not  tell.  They  told  me  that  Madame  Duchesne  was  carried 
down  on  a  litter,  which  must  have  greatly  added  to  your  diffi- 
culties. I  hardly  thought,  monsieur,  when  I  saw  you  last  that 
we  should  thus  meet  again,  I  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  my 
people,  you  as  commander  of  an  English  ship." 

"  No ;  things  change  quickly,  Toussaint." 

The  negro  led  the  way  to  a  rough  hut  constructed  of  boughs 
and  trees  in  the  centre  of  the  clump. 

"  You  must  need  breakfast,  and,  as  you  see,  it  in  ready  for 
you.  Your  men  will  be  cared  for." 

The  breakfast  was  rough,  but  Nat  enjoyed  it  greatly.  Tous- 
saint remarked  that  he  himself  had  breakfasted  an  hour  before, 
and  he  talked  while  his  guest  ate. 

"  It  is  as  well,"  he  said,  "  that  you  should  be  down  near  the 
spot  where  you  landed  before  it  is  dark,  for  the  track  is  far 
too  rough  to  travel  after  dark.  I  suppose  you  have  ordered 
your  boat  to  come  to  fetch  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  ordered  it  to  be  there  as  soon  as  it  could  leave  the 
ship  without  being  seen  from  the  shore ;  but  I  hardly  thought 
that  I  should  be  able  to  return  this  evening,  as  your  messenger 
told  me  that  your  camp  was  six  hours'  journey  among  the 
hills." 

"  Yes,  my  camp  is  there,  and  I  too  would  like  to  return 
before  nightfall.  There  are  many  who  need  my  care,  and  I 
have  already  been  too  long  away.  Now,  Monsieur  Glover, 
as  to  the  subject  on  which  I  asked  you  to  come  to  converse 
with  me.  We  have  heard  that  some  of  the  planters  have  sent 
a  deputation  to  Jamaica  asking  the  governor  to  send  troops  to 


TOUSSAINT  I/OUVERTURE  301 

take  this  island  for  England.  We,  as  you  doubtless  know, 
are  not  for  the  republic.  We  call  ourselves  the  royal  army, 
seeing  that  the  National  Assembly  of  France  refuse  to  do  any- 
thing for  us.  It  is  true  that  their  commissioners  at  Cape 
Francois  have  issued  a  proclamation  offering  a  free  pardon  to 
all  who  have  been  concerned  in  the  insurrection,  and  free- 
dom and  equal  rights  to  men  of  all  colour.  We  do  not  believe 
them.  The  Assembly  care  nothing  for  us.  They  passed  a 
decree  giving  rights  to  the  mulattoes,  but  in  no  way  affecting 
us;  and  then,  directly  they  found  that  the  mulattoes  were 
exercising  their  rights,  they  passed  another  decree  reversing 
the  first.  One  cannot  expect  good  faith  in  men  like  these; 
they  would  wait  till  we  had  laid  down  our  arms  and  returned 
to  our  plantations,  and  then  they  would  shoot  us  down  like 
dogs,  just  as  they  are  murdering  all  the  best  men  of  their  own 
country  and  keeping  their  king  a  prisoner.  Therefore  we  do 
not  recognize  the  republic,  but  are  for  the  king." 

"  I  fear  there  will  soon  be  no  king  for  you  to  recognize," 
Nat  said ;  "  everything  points  to  the  fact  that  they  are  deter- 
mined to  murder  him,  as  they  have  murdered  every  noble  and 
every  good  man  in  the  country." 

"I  see  that,"  Toussaint  said  gravely,  "but  the  number  of 
those  who  know  what  is  passing  in  France  is  small.  However, 
we  who  do  know,  and  are  responsible  for  the  mass  who  trust 
in  us,  must  consider  what  is  the  best  thing  to  do.  Do  you 
think  there  will  be  a  war  between  France  and  England  ?  " 

"  I  think  that  if  the  king  is  murdered  the  indignation  in 
England,  which  is  already  intense,  will  be  so  great  that  war  is 
certain." 

"So  much  the  better  for  us,"  Toussaint  said.  "The  more 
they  fight  against  each  other,  the  less  will  they  be  able  to  pay 
attention  to  Hayti ;  but  on  the  other  hand  the  more  likely  will 
it  be  that  the  English  will  endeavour  to  obtain  possession  of 


302  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

this  island.  Now,  between  the  French  and  the  English  we 
have  no  great  choice.  We  regard  ourselves  as  French ;  we 
speak  the  French  language,  and  have,  ever  since  the  colony 
was  first  formed,  lived  under  the  French  flag.  Then,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  French  have  been  our  masters,  and  we  are 
determined  that  they  shall  never  again  be  so.  Now  as  to 
your  people.  In  their  own  islands  they  have  slaves  just  as 
the  French  have  here,  and  we  have  no  intention  of  changing 
slavery  under  one  set  of  masters  for  slavery  under  another. 
Now,  sir,  do  you  think  that  if  the  English  were  to  come  here 
they  would  guarantee  that  slavery  should  never  exist  again  in 
the  island?" 

"  That  I  cannot  say,"  Nat  said.  "  I  cannot  answer  for  what 
the  British  parliament  would  do  in  that  matter.  The  feeling 
against  slavery  is  growing  very  fast  in  England,  and  I  feel 
convinced  that  before  long  a  law  will  be  passed  putting  a 
stop  altogether  to  the  transportation  of  negroes  from  Africa ; 
but  whether  that  feeling  will,  at  any  rate  for  a  long  time,  so 
gain  in  strength  as  to  cause  parliament  to  pass  a  law  abolishing 
slavery  altogether  in  British  dominions,  is  more  than  I  can 
say.  It  would  be  a  tremendous  step  to  take.  It  would  mean 
absolute  ruin  to  our  islands ;  for  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  that 
your  people  are  not  disposed  for  work,  and  would  never  make 
steady  labourers  if  allowed  to  live  in  their  own  way.  Then 
you  see,  were  slavery  abolished  altogether  in  this  island,  it 
would  be  difficult  in  the  extreme  to  continue  it  in  others." 

"  But  they  would  not  find  us  as  slaves  here,"  Toussaint  said. 
"  They  would  find  us  a  free  people,  without  masters,  unattached 
to  any  plantation  or  to  any  regular  toil ;  we  should  be  like  the 
Caribs  in  Jamaica.  It  would  be  as  if  they  came  to  a  land 
which  foreigners  had  never  visited.  They  would  find  a  people 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  and  perfectly  capable  of  defending 
themselves,  but  ready  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  England 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  303 

on  the  condition  that  our  personal  liberty  was  in  no  way 
interfered  with." 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  in  what  you  say,  Toussaint,  and  to- 
morrow I  shall  sail  for  Jamaica  and  explain  exactly  the  line 
you  take  to  the  admiral.  I  may  say  that  in  coming  to  see 
you  I  do  so  in  accordance  with  the  orders  that  I  received,  to 
ascertain  if  possible  the  views  of  the  leaders  of  this  move- 
ment." 

"If  these  terms  are  refused,"  Toussaint  went  on,  "and  your 
people  invade  the  island,  we  shall  leave  you  and  the  French 
to  fight  it  out  until  we  perceive  which  is  the  stronger,  and  as 
soon  as  we  do  so,  shall  aid  the  weaker.  I  do  not  say  that 
we  shall  stand  aloof  up  to  that  time,  we  shall  fight  against 
both,  they  would  be  equally  our  enemies;  but  if  one  were 
so  far  getting  the  better  of  it  as  to  be  likely  to  drive  the  other 
out,  then  in  self-defence  we  should  unite  our  forces  against  it. 
I  may  say  that  although  we  and  the  mulattoes  are  both  fight- 
ing against  the  French,  the  alliance  is  not  likely  to  be  a  long 
one.  We  all  know  that  if  they  got  the  upper  hand  they 
would  be  far  more  cruel  and  more  tyrannous  than  the  whites 
have  been.  They  have  ever  looked  down  upon  us,  and  have 
treated  us  with  far  greater  contempt  than  have  the  whites, 
who,  to  do  them  justice,  were  kindly  masters,  and  especially 
treated  their  house  servants  well.  There  will  therefore  be 
four  parties  here  all  hostile  to  each  other.  You  and  the 
French  will  be  striving  for  mastery,  we  for  liberty,  the  mulat- 
toes for  the  domination  of  the  island  and  for  their  personal 
interest.  The  way  I  have  pointed  out  is,  in  my  opinion,  the 
only  one  that  can  bring  about  peace.  If  your  government 
and  people  will  give  us  a  solemn  undertaking  that  in  no  case 
shall  slavery  ever  be  re-established,  and  that  all  men  shall 
have  equal  rights,  we  will  join  you  heart  and  soul.  When  I 
say  equal  rights  I  do  not  mean  that  they  shall  have  votes. 


304  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

We  are  at  present  absolutely  unfit  to  have  votes  or  to  exercise 
political  power.  I  only  mean  that  the  law  shall  be  the  same 
for  us  as  for  the  whites,  that  we  shall  be  taxed  on  the  same 
scale  in  proportion  to  our  means,  that  the  assembly  shall 
have  no  power  to  make  separate  laws  concerning  us,  and  that, 
should  they  attempt  to  make  such  laws,  they  should  be  at  once 
dissolved  by  the  white  authorities  of  the  island." 

"  I  think  your  proposal  a  perfectly  fair  one,  Toussaint,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  any  one  who  has,  as  I  have,  a  knowledge 
of  the  situation  here,  would  not  hesitate  to  accept  it.  But  I 
doubt  whether  public  opinion  at  home  is  ripe  for  a  change  that 
would  be  denounced  by  all  having  an  interest  in  the  West 
Indian  Islands,  and  declared  by  them  to  be  absolutely  destruc- 
tive to  their  prosperity.  However,  you  may  be  assured  that 
I  shall  represent  your  offer  in  the  most  favourable  light.  I 
must  ask,  however,  are  you  empowered  by  the  other  leaders 
to  make  it?" 

"  I  have  talked  the  matter  with  Francois,  who  is  wholly  of 
my  opinion,"  Toussaint  said.  "  It  is  useless  to  talk  to  Biassou  ; 
when  he  is  not  murdering  someone  he  is  drinking ;  but  his 
opposition  would  go  for  little,  except  among  the  very  worst  of 
our  people.  He  is  already  regarded  with  horror  and  disgust, 
and  you  may  be  assured  that  his  career  will  ere  long  come  to 
an  end,  in  which  case  Francois  and  I  will  share  the  power 
between  us.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  blind  myself  to  the 
possibility  that  other  leaders  may  arise.  The  men  of  one  dis- 
trict know  but  little  of  the  others,  and  may  elect  their  own 
chiefs.  Still,  I  think  that  if  I  had  the  authority  to  say  that 
the  proposal  I  have  made  to  you  had  been  accepted,  I  could 
count  on  the  support  of  the  great  majority  of  the  men  of  my 
colour,  for  already  they  are  beginning  to  find  that  a  life  of 
lawless  liberty  has  its  drawbacks.  Already  we  have  been 
obliged  to  order  that  a  certain  amount  of  work  shall  be  done 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  805 

by  every  man  among  the  plantations  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
towns,  in  order  to  ensure  a  supply  of  food. 

"The  order  has  been  obeyed,  but  not  very  willingly,  for 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  portion  of  the  men  believed  that 
when  they  had  once  got  rid  of  the  masters  there  would  be  no 
occasion  whatever  for  any  further  work,  but  that  they  would 
somehow  be  supplied  with  an  abundance  of  all  that  they 
required.  The  sickness  that  has  prevailed  has  also  had  its 
effect.  There  are  few,  indeed,  here  who  have  any  knowledge 
of  medicine,  and  the  poor  people  have  suffered  accordingly. 
When  in  the  plantations  they  were  always  well  tended  in 
sickness,  while  here  they  have  had  neither  shelter  nor  care. 
It  is  all  very  well  to  tell  them  that  liberty  cannot  be  obtained 
without  sacrifices,  and  that  it  must  be  a  long  time  before 
things  settle  down  and  each  man  finds  work  to  do,  but  the 
poor  people,  ignorant  as  they  are,  are  like  children,  and  think 
very  little  of  the  future.  The  effect  of  centuries  of  slavery 
will  take  many  years  to  remedy.  For  myself,  although  I 
believe  that  we  shall  finally  obtain  what  we  desire,  and  shall 
become  undisputed  masters  of  the  island,  I  foresee  that  our 
troubles  are  only  beginning.  We  have  had  no  training  for 
self-government.  We  shall  have  destroyed  the  civilization 
that  reigned  here,  and  shall  have  nothing  to  take  its  place, 
and  I  dread  that  instead  of  progressing  we  may  retrograde 
until  we  sink  back  into  the  condition  in  which  we  lived  in 
Africa." 

At  this  moment  a  negro  ran  up. 

"  Doctor,"  he  said,  "  there  are  a  large  number  of  our  people 
close  at  hand,  and  I  think  I  can  make  out  Biassou  among 
them." 

"  I  fear  that  we  may  have  some  trouble,  Monsieur  Glover," 
Toussaint  said  quietly,  "  but  be  assured  that  I  and  those  with 
me  will  maintain  my  safe-conduct  with  our  lives.  Biassou 

20 


806  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

must  have  arrived  at  my  camp  after  I  left,  and  he  must  have 
heard  there  that  I  was  going  to  meet  an  English  officer,  and 
has  followed  me.  He  was  present  when  Francois  and  I 
arranged  to  send  a  messenger  to  propose  a  meeting  to  you, 
and  he  then  assented,  but  as  often  as  not  he  forgets  in  the 
morning  what  he  has  agreed  to  overnight." 

He  went  apart  and  spoke  to  his  men.  Twenty  of  them  had 
accompanied  him  from  his  camp,  and  with  the  twelve  who  had 
formed  the  escort,  and  Nat  and  the  sailors,  there  were  in  all 
thirty-eight,  and  from  the  quiet  way  in  which  they  teok  up 
their  arms  Nat  had  little  doubt  that  they  would,  if  necessary, 
make  a  stout  fight  against  Biassou's  savages. 

These  arrived  in  two  or  three  minutes.  They  had  evidently 
travelled  at  the  top  of  their  speed,  for  their  breath  came  fast, 
and  they  were  bathed  in  sweat.  Their  aspect  was  savage  in 
the  extreme.  Most  of  them  wore  some  garment  or  other  the 
spoil  of  murdered  victims,  some  of  them  broad  Panama-hats, 
others  had  women's  shawls  wrapped  round  theirwaists  as  sashes, 
some  had  jackets  that  were  once  white,  others  were  naked  to 
the  waist.  A  few  had  guns,  the  rest  either  axes  or  pikes,  and 
all  carried  long  knives.  Conspicuous  among  them  was  Biassou 
himself,  a  negro  of  almost  gigantic  stature  and  immense 
strength,  to  which  he  owed  no  small  part  of  his  supremacy 
among  his  friends.  He  came  on  shouting  "  Treachery ! 
treachery  !  "  words  that  were  re-echoed  in  a  hoarse  chorus 
by  his  followers,  who  numbered  about  a  hundred  and  fifty. 

At  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  new-comers,  Toussaint's 
men  closed  up  round  him,  but  he  signed  them  to  stand  back, 
and  quietly  awaited  the  coming  of  Biassou.  The  calmness  of 
Toussaint  had  its  effect  on  Biassou.  Instead  of  rushing  at  him 
with  his  axe,  as  it  had  seemed  was  his  intention,  he  paused  and 
again  shouted  "  Treachery !  " 

"What  nonsense  are  you  talking,  Biassou ?"  Toussaint  said. 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  807 

"  I  am  carrying  out  the  arrangement  to  which  you  and 
Francois  agreed  the  other  night,  and  am  having  an  interview 
with  this  British  officer." 

"When  did  I  agree  to  such  a  thing?"  the  great  negro 
roared. 

"Last  Friday  night  we  agreed  that  it  was  well  that  we 
should  learn  the  intentions  of  the  English,  and  that  we  should 
ascertain  the  position  in  which  we  should  stand  were  they  to 
come  here." 

"  I  remember  nothing  about  it,  Toussaint." 

"  That  is  possible  enough,"  the  latter  replied.  "  You  know 
that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  you  to  forget  in  the  morning 
what  was  arranged  overnight.  This  officer  has  come  here  on 
my  invitation  and  under  my  safe-conduct,  and  no  man  shall 
touch  him  while  I  live." 

"  It  is  agreed,"  Biassou  said,  "  and  all  have  sworn  to  it,  that 
no  white  who  falls  into  o»r  hands  shall  be  spared.  Such  is  the 
case,  is  it  not?  "  he  said  to  his  followers;  and  they  answered 
with  a  loud  shout  and  began  to  press  forward. 

"  These  men  have  not  fallen  into  our  hands,"  Toussaint  said, 
"they  have  come  here  on  our  invitation,  and,  as  I  have  told 
you,  with  our  safeguard." 

"  It  is  all  very  well  for  you  to  talk,  Toussaint ;  I  know  you. 
You  pretend  to  be  with  us,  but  your  heart  is  with  the  whites, 
and  you  are  here  to  conspire  with  them  against  us,"  and  he 
raised  his  axe  as  if  about  to  rush  forward. 

"  This  is  madness,  Biassou,"  Toussaint  said  sternly.  "  Have 
we  not  enough  enemies  now  that  we  should  quarrel  among 
ourselves  ?  You  have  done  enough  harm  to  our  cause  already 
by  your  horrible  cruelties,  for  which  every  coloured  man  who 
falls  into  the  hands  of  the  whites  has  to  suffer  severely.  Be- 
ware how  you  commence  a  conflict ;  you  may  be  more  numer- 
ous than  we  are,  but  we  are  better  armed,  and  even  if  you 


308  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

overpowered  us  in  the  end,  you  would  suffer  heavily  before 
you  did  so." 

"I  wish  you  no  harm,  Toussaint,  but  for  the  last  time 
I  demand  that  these  white  men  shall  be  given  up  to  me." 

"  And  for  the  last  time  I  refuse,"  Toussaint  said ;  and  his 
men  without  orders  moved  up  close  to  him. 

Biassou  stood  for  a  moment  irresolute,  and  then,  with  a 
shout  to  his  men  to  follow  him,  sprang  forward.  In  an 
instant  Nat  threw  himself  before  Toussaint,  and  when  Biassou 
was  within  a  couple  of  yards  of  him  threw  up  his  arm  and 
levelled  his  pistol  between  the  negro's  eyes. 

"  Drop  that  axe,"  he  shouted,  "  or  you  are  a  dead  man  !  " 

The  negro  stood  like  a  black  statue  for  an  instant.  The 
pistol  was  but  a  foot  from  his  face,  and  he  knew  that  before 
his  uplifted  axe  could  fall  he  would  be  a  dead  man. 

"Drop  it!"  Nat  repeated.  "  If  you  don't  before  I  count 
three,  I  fire.  One  —  two  —  "  and  the  negro's  axe  fell  to  the 
ground.  "  Stand  where  you  are !  "  Nat  exclaimed,  "  the 
slightest  movement  and  I  fire !  Come  up  here,  men  ! " 

The  four  sailors  came  up,  cutlass  in  one  hand  and  pistol  in 
the  other. 

"  This  man  is  your  prisoner,"  he  said.  "  Keep  him  between 
you,  one  on  each  side  and  the  other  two  behind.  If  he  makes 
the  slightest  movement  to  escape,  or  if  the  blacks  behind 
approach  any  nearer,  send  your  four  bullets  into  his  brain." 

The  men  took  up  their  stations  as  directed. 

"  Now,  Biassou,"  he  went  on,  lowering  his  own  pistol,  "  you 
can  continue  your  conference  with  Toussaint." 

"You  see,  Biassou,"  Toussaint  said,  "you  have  only 
rendered  yourself  ridiculous.  I  repeat  what  I  said  before, 
this  officer  is  here  in  answer  to  my  invitation  sent  to  him 
after  Francois  and  you  had  agreed  that  it  was  advantageous 
to  learn  what  the  objects  of  the  English  were.  If  you 


"DROP    IT!"    NAT    REPEATED. 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE  309 

question  him  you  will  find  that  it  is  as  I  say.  We  have  had 
our  conference,  have  expressed  our  views,  and  he  will  repeat 
what  I  have  said  to  the  British  governor  of  Jamaica;  and 
I  think  that,  whatever  the  result  may  be,  it  is  well  that  the 
English  should  understand  that  we  have  resolved  that,  whether 
they  or  the  French  are  the  possessors  of  this  island,  slavery 
is  abolished  for  ever  here.  He  will  return  at  once  to  the 
coast,  and  will  then  sail  direct  for  Jamaica.  Now,  if  you 
have  any  observation  to  make,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  it" 

"I  do  not  doubt  what  you  say,"  Biassou  replied  sullenly; 
"  but  it  must  be  settled  by  what  Francois  says  when  we  rejoin 
him." 

"So  be  it,"  Toussaint  said.  "  And  now,  I  pray  you,  let  there 
be  no  quarrel  between  us.  I  have  been  forced  to  withstand 
you,  because  I  was  bound  by  a  sacred  promise.  Any  divisions 
will  be  fatal  to  our  cause.  For  the  moment  you  may  be  in 
superior  force,  but  another  time  those  who  love  and  follow 
me  might  be  the  more  numerous.  You  well  know  that  I  am 
as  faithful  to  the  cause  as  you  are,  and  we  must  both  set 
an  example  to  our  followers,  that  while  we  may  differ  as  to 
the  methods  by  which  success  is  to  be  gained,  we  are  at  one  in 
our  main  object." 

"  I  admit  that  I  was  wrong,"  the  great  negro  said  frankly. 
"  I  drank  more  than  was  good  for  me  before  I  started,  and  my 
blood  has  been  heated  by  the  speed  with  which  we  followed 
you.  I  am  sober  now,  for  which  I  have  to  thank,"  he  added 
with  a  grim  smile,  "  this  young  officer ;  though  I  own  that  I 
do  not  like  his  method.  Let  us  think  no  more  of  it ;  "  and  he 
held  out  his  hand  to  Toussaint,  which  the  latter  took. 

A  shout  of  satisfaction  rose  from  the  negroes  on  both  sides. 
The  determined  attitude  of  Toussaint's  men,  the  fact  that  they 
had  four  whites  among  them,  and  that  almost  all  of  them  had 
muskets,  had  cooled  the  courage  of  Biassou's  followers,  who,  as 


310  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

soon  as  their  leader  was  captured,  saw  that  even  if  they  gained 
the  victory,  it  would  be  at  the  cost  of  at  least  half  their  num- 
ber. There  was  no  prospect  of  plunder  or  of  any  advantage, 
and  they  knew  that,  beloved  and  respected  as  Toussaint  was,  it 
was  very  possible  that  those  who  did  survive  the  fight  would 
fall  victims  to  the  indignation  that  would  be  aroused  at  the 
news  of  an  attack  being  made  upon  him. 

"  Now  that  it  is  all  settled  we  may  as  well  be  starting  for 
the  coast,  Toussaint,"  Nat  said.  "  There  is  nothing  more  for 
us  to  arrange,  and  as  our  presence  here  might  possibly  lead  to 
further  trouble,  the  sooner  we  are  off  the  better." 

"  I  will  not  ask  you  to  stay,"  the  negro  said.  "  I  do  not 
think  that  we  shall  have  any  more  trouble,  but  there  is  no 
saying.  Several  of  Biassou's  men  have  wine-skins  with  them, 
and  a  quarrel  might  arise  when  they  had  drunk  more.  I  will 
send  you  down  under  the  same  escort  as  before." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  we  shall  need  so  many.  I  should  not 
like  to  weaken  you  so  far." 

"  There  is  no  fear  for  me,"  Toussaint  said  decidedly.  "  Arriv- 
ing in  hot  blood  they  might  have  attacked  me,  but  I  am  sure 
they  will  not  do  so  now.  They  know  well  enough  that  I  should 
be  terribly  avenged  were  they  to  do  so.  It  is  quite  necessary 
that  you  should  take  as  many  men  as  before,  for  it  is  possible 
that  some  of  Biassou's  men  might  steal  away  and  follow  you." 

A  few  minutes  afterwards  Nat  set  out  with  his  men  and  his 
guard  of  twelve  blacks.  It  was  still  some  hours  before  the 
time  at  which  he  was  to  be  met  by  the  boat.  They  therefore 
halted  when  within  a  mile  of  the  shore,  and  there  waited  until 
it  was  dark.  Then  he  went  on  alone  with  the  four  sailors  to 
the  beach,  and  in  a  few  minutes  after  they  arrived  there  they 
heard  the  sound  of  the  oars  of  the  gig. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  to  see  you  back  again,"  Turnbull  said 
as  Nat  stepped  on  to  the  deck.  "  Lippincott  and  I  have  been 


A    FRENCH    FRIGATE  811 

horribly  uneasy  about  you  all  day.  Did  everything  go  off 
quietly?" 

"  Yes,  except  for  two  or  three  minutes,  when  that  blood- 
thirsty scoundrel  Biassou  came  upon  the  scene  with  a  hundred 
and  fifty  of  his  followers.  There  was  very  nearly  a  shindy 
then,  but  it  passed  off;  for  he  did  not  like  looking  down  the 
muzzle  of  my  pistol  at  a  few  inches  from  his  head,  and  my 
four  men  made  him  a  prisoner  until  affairs  had  taken  a 
friendly  turn,  which  was  not  long  after.  For  when  the  leader 
of  a  party  is  a  prisoner,  and  his  guards  have  orders  to  shoot 
him  instantly  if  there  is  any  trouble,  it  is  astonishing  how 
quick  people  are  in  coming  to  an  understanding." 

"Yes,  I  should  say  so,"  Turnbull  laughed.  "However,  as 
it  has  turned  out  well,  and  you  have  fulfilled  your  mission,  it 
does  n't  matter  to  us  ;  and  I  hope  that  we  have  now  done  with 
this  creeping  alongshore  work." 


CHAPTER    XVII 

A   FRENCH   FRIGATE 

ON  arriving  at  Kingston  Nat  went  on  board  the  flag-ship, 
and  reported  to  the  admiral  the  particulars  of  his  visit  to 
Toussaint. 

"  He  is  evidently  a  long-headed  fellow,"  the  admiral  said, 
"  and  from  his  point  of  view  his  proposal  is  a  fair  one ;  but  I  am 
afraid  our  people  at  home  would  never  give  such  an  under- 
taking. It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  have  one  island  where 
the  blacks  were  free,  while  in  all  others  they  would  remain 
slaves.  It  would  be  as  much  as  saying  to  them,  '  If  you  want 
freedom  you  must  fight  for  it ; '  and  even  if  the  people  at  home 


312  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

could  bring  themselves  to  pay  the  immense  amount  of  money 
that  would  be  required  to  emancipate  the  slaves  by  indemni- 
fying their  owners,  it  would  nevertheless  be  the  ruin  of  the 
islands,  and  all  connected  with  them.  However,  I  will  take 
you  ashore  to  the  governor,  after  my  clerk  has  made  a  copy 
of  your  report." 

"  I  have  made  two  copies,  sir." 

"  All  the  better.    Then  we  will  go  at  once." 

The  governor  heard  Nat's  story,  and  received  his  report. 

"  It  is  at  least  satisfactory,"  he  said,  "  to  have  learnt  from 
one  of  themselves  what  the  views  of  the  principal  leaders  are, 
and  I  consider  that  you  have  performed  your  commission  ex- 
ceedingly well,  Lieutenant  Glover,  and,  undoubtedly,  at  a  great 
deal  of  risk  to  yourself.  As  to  the  matter  of  the  communication, 
it  will  of  course  receive  serious  attention.  It  is  far  too  impor- 
tant a  business  for  anyone  to  give  off-hand  an  opinion  upon  it. 
I  fancy,  sir,  that  you  are  likely  to  have  more  active  work  before 
long,  for  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  war  will  very  shortly 
be  declared  with  France,  and  her  privateers  will  be  swarming 
about  these  seas." 

It  was  nearly  six  months  before  any  special  incident  took 
place.  No  vessel  had  been  missing  since  the  capture  of  the 
Agile,  and  it  was  evident  that  any  pirates  there  might  have 
been  among  the  islands  had  moved  to  waters  where  they  could 
carry  on  their  trade  with  less  interruption.  The  Agile  cruised 
about  among  the  islands,  and  although  she  had  a  pleasant  time, 
officers  and  men  alike  grew  impatient  at  the  uneventful  nature 
of  their  work.  Things  were  but  little  changed  in  Hayti. 
Biassou  had  been  deprived  of  his  command,  and  it  was  sur- 
mised that  he  had  been  murdered,  but  at  any  rate  he  was  never 
heard  of  again.  Francois  and  Toussaint  commanded,  but  the 
former  came  to  be  so  jealous  of  Toussaint's  popularity  that 
the  latter  was  obliged  to  retire,  and  to  cross  the  frontier  into  the 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  313 

Spanish  part  of  the  island.  There  he  was  well  received,  and 
showed  great  ability  in  various  actions  against  the  French,  with 
whom  Spain  was  then  at  war.  He  and  many  other  negroes 
had  declared  for  Spain,  upon  the  singular  ground  that  they 
had  always  been  governed  by  a  king,  and  preferred  to  be  ruled 
by  the  king  of  Spain  rather  than  by  a  republic. 

With  only  six  hundred  men  Toussaint  drove  fifteen  hundred 
French  out  of  a  strong  post  which  they  occupied  in  the  Spanish 
town  of  Raphaelita,  and  afterwards  took  several  other  posts 
and  villages.  It  was  for  these  successes  that  he  gained  the 
name  of  L'Ouverture,  or  opener,  and  the  Marquis  D'Hermona 
gave  him  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  The  three  French 
commissioners  had  returned  to  France,  and  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  two  others,  Santhonax  and  Poveren,  the  former  a 
ruffian  of  the  same  type  as  those  who  were  deluging  the  soil 
of  France  with  its  best  blood,  and  who  made  themselves  odious 
to  both  parties  by  their  brutality  and  greed.  At  last,  at  the 
end  of  February,  1793,  came  the  news  of  the  execution  of  the 
king  of  France,  and  the  certainty  that  war  was  imminent. 

"  Now  we  shall  have  more  lively  times/'  Turnbull  said.  "  It 
has  been  dull  enough  of  late." 

"  There  has  been  nothing  to  grumble  at,"  the  surgeon  said. 
"  What  would  you  have  ?  Have  n't  we  been  sailing  about  like 
gentlemen,  with  nothing  to  do  but  to  drink  and  sleep,  and  look 
at  the  islands,  and  take  things  easy  altogether  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  talk,  Doyle,"  Turnbull  said,  laughing.  "  There 
is  no  one  who  has  grumbled  more  than  yourself." 

"  That  is  in  the  cause  of  science,"  the  Irishman  retorted. 
"  How  can  I  ever  become  a  distinguished  man,  and  show  what 
is  in  me,  and  make  all  sorts  of  discoveries,  if  there  is  never  a 
chance  that  comes  in  my  way?  There  are  my  instruments 
all  ready  for  use,  they  might  as  well  be  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  I  hone  them  once  a  week,  and  well-nigh  shed  tears  be- 


314  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

cause  of  the  good  work  they  ought  to  be  doing.  It  is  all  very 
well  for  you,  Turnbull,  you  won't  forget  how  to  kill  a  man 
when  the  time  comes  ;  but  let  me  tell  you  that  any  fellow  who 
does  n't  know  his  ABC  can  kill  a  man,  whereas  it  takes  a 
man  of  science  to  cure  him." 

"  There  is  a  good  deal  in  that,  Doyle,"  Nat  said,  when  the 
laugh  had  subsided,  "  though  I  don't  know  that  I  considered  it 
in  that  light  before ;  but  that,  perhaps,  is  because  I  have  tried 
one  and  never  tried  the  other." 

"  It 's  a  fine  thing,"  Doyle  said,  "  to  be  a  surgeon.  There 
you  see  a  man  with  his  legs  shot  off.  If  it  was  not  for  you 
he  would  die.  You  take  him  in  hand,  you  amputate  a  bit 
higher  up,  you  make  him  tidy  and  comfortable,  and  there  he 
is  walking  about  almost  as  well  as  if  he  had  two  legs ;  and 
although  he  is  not  fit  for  ship  service  again,  he  would  be  as 
good  a  man  in  a  fight  with  a  cudgel  as  ever  he  was.  Now  I 
ask  you  fairly,  what  is  there  that  you  can  do  to  compare  with 
that?" 

"  Nothing  in  that  way,  I  must  admit,"  Nat  laughed, 
"  Well,  you  may  be  having  an  opportunity  of  showing  your 
superiority  before  long.  This  is  just  the  ground  the  French 
privateers  are  likely  to  choose.  There  are  plenty  of  French 
ports  for  them  to  put  into,  hundreds  of  bays  where  they  could 
lie  hidden,  and  lots  of  shipping  to  plunder.  No  doubt  they 
will  be  thick  in  the  channel  and  down  the  straits,  but  our 
merchantmen  will  not  think  of  going  there  unless  in  large 
fleets  or  under  convoy  of  ships  of  war ;  while  here,  though  they 
might  be  guarded  on  their  way  across  the  Atlantic,  they  would 
have  to  scatter  as  soon  as  they  were  among  the  islands.  Well, 
we  must  look  out  that  we  are  not  caught  napping.  Of  course, 
until  we  get  news  that  war  is  declared  we  can't  fire  upon  a 
Frenchman ;  while  if  one  arrived  with  the  news  before  we  got 
it,  he  might  sail  up  close  by  us  and  pour  in  a  broadside." 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  315 

"  At  any  rate  we  are  likely  to  take  some  prizes,"  Lippincott 
said,  "  for  the  instant  we  get  the  news  we  can  pounce  upon 
any  French  merchantman." 

"  Yes ;  those  homeward-bound  could  hardly  hear  the  news  as 
soon  as  we  do,  while  of  those  coming  out  many  slow  sailers 
will  have  left  before  war  is  declared,  and  may  not  be  here  for 
weeks  after  we  hear  of  it.  The  great  thing  will  be  for  us 
to  put  ourselves  on  the  main  line  of  traffic.  As  we  have 
received  no  special  orders  we  can  cruise  where  we  like.  I 
should  say  that  coming  from  France,  they  would  be  likely 
to  keep  down  the  coast  of  Spain  and  on  to  Madeira  before 
they  strike  across,  as  in  that  way  they  would  be  altogether 
out  of  the  line  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Then,  if  they  were 
making  for  Hayti,  they  would  probably  be  coming  along  west 
on  or  about  the  2oth  parallel  north;  while,  if  making  for 
Guadeloupe  or  Martinique,  they  would  be  some  three  or  four 
degrees  farther  south.  Probably  privateers  would  follow  the 
same  lines,  as  before  commencing  operations  they  would  want 
to  take  in  provisions  and  water,  to  learn  where  our  cruisers  are 
likely  to  be,  to  pick  up  pilots,  and  so  on.  So  I  should  say 
that  we  can  cruise  about  these  waters  for  another  fortnight 
safely,  and  then  go  through  the  Caribbean  Islands  and  cruise 
some  seventy  or  eighty  miles  beyond  them,  carefully  avoiding 
putting  into  any  of  our  own  islands  as  we  pass." 

"  Why  should  you  do  that? "  Turnbull  asked. 

"  Because  the  chances  are  that  we  should  find,  either  at 
Barbados  or  St.  Lucia  or  Dominica  —  or,  in  fact,  at  any  of  the 
other  islands,  one  of  our  frigates,  or  at  any  rate,  some  officer 
senior  to  me ;  and  in  that  case,  as  we  have  no  fixed  orders 
from  the  admiral,  we  might  be  detained  or  sent  off  in  some 
direction  that  might  not  suit  us  at  all." 

"  Good ! "  Doyle  said.  "  It  is  always  a  safe  rule  to  keep  out 
of  the  way  of  a  bigger  man  than  yourself.  I  have  always 


316  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

observed  that  a  captain  of  a  man-of-war  or  of  a  frigate  is  sure 
to  be  down  on  small  craft,  if  he  gets  a  chance.  It  is  like  a  big 
boy  at  school  fagging  a  little  one ;  he  could  do  quite  as  well 
without  him,  but  it  is  just  a  matter  of  devilment  and  to  show 
his  authority.  Heaven  protect  us  against  falling  in  with  a 
frigate.  If  she  were  a  Frenchman  she  would  sink  us ;  if  she 
were  a  Britisher  she  would  bully  us." 

They  reached  the  ground  on  which  Nat  had  decided  to 
cruise.  Three  days  later  the  look-out  at  the  mast-head  shouted 
"  Sail  ho  !  "  the  words  acting  like  an  electric  shock  to  those  on 
deck. 

"How  does  it  bear?" 

"  About  east  by  north,  sir.  There  are  three  vessels ;  I  can 
only  see  their  topsails  at  present  Two  of  them  are  a  bit 
bigger  than  the  third.  They  look  to  me  to  be  merchantmen. 
I  should  say  the  other,  by  the  cut  of  his  sails,  is  a  Frenchman." 

A  low  cheer  broke  from  the  men.  "  Now,  if  that  fellow 
brings  news  that  war  is  declared,  we  are  in  luck,"  Nat  said. 
"Either  he  is  convoying  two  French  merchantmen  he  has 
overtaken,  or  he  has  two  British  prizes  he  has  picked  up. 
If  they  are  English,  we  shall  not  get  so  much  prize-money ; 
but  then  we  shall  have  less  difficulty  with  the  privateer, 
if  privateer  she  is,  because  she  must  have  put  a  good  many  of 
her  hands  an  board  the  prizes.  So  we  can  in  either  case  count 
upon  doing  well.  At  any  rate  they  are  not  likely  to  suspect 
that  we  are  English,  being  French-built  and  French-rigged. 
Even  if  they  have  a  doubt,  they  will  be  satisfied  as  soon  as  they 
see  the  name  on  our  bows.  We  will  not  get  up  any  more 
sail." 

"  I  will  go  up  and  have  a  look  at  her,"  Turnbull  said ;  and 
slinging  his  glass  over  his  shoulder  he  went  aloft. 

"  I  think,"  he  called  down,  after  a  long  look  at  them,  "  that 
the  middle  ship  is  a  good  deal  larger  than  she  looks ;  and  the 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  317 

others  are  carrying  every  stitch  of  canvas,  but  she  has  neither 
royals  nor  topgallant-sails.  Her  yards  have  a  wide  spread, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  she  is  a  frigate  or  a  large 
corvette  —  certainly  a  French  one.  As  to  the  others,  I  cannot 
say  with  certainty,  but  I  rather  fancy  they  are  English ;  in 
which  case  she  has  captured  them  on  the  way,  and,  being 
much  faster  than  they  are,  has  to  go  under  easy  sail  to  keep 
with  them." 

"Well,  I  hope  she  is  not  too  big  for  us,"  Nat  said,  as 
Tumbull  rejoined  him. 

"  What  should  you  call  too  big,  sir?  "  Turnbull  asked  with  a 
smile. 

"  Well,  I  should  say  that  a  fifty  was  too  big." 

"I  should  think  so  indeed.  A  twenty-gun  sloop  would  be  a 
pretty  formidable  opponent." 

"  Yes,  a  twenty  would  about  suit  us,  especially  as  she  may  have 
fifty  of  her  men  on  board  the  other  craft  —  that  is,  if  they  are 
her  prizes.  It  is  the  men  that  I  am  more  afraid  of  than  the 
guns.  Two  to  one  are  no  great  odds  in  guns,  especially  as 
we  generally  work  ours  faster  than  the  French  do ;  but  when 
it  comes  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  or  so  against  forty,  it 
may  be  very  unpleasant  if  we  get  a  spar  knocked  away  and 
they  come  alongside  of  us.  We  may  as  well  get  the  French 
flag  up  at  once.  With  a  good  glass  they  could  make  it  out  a 
long  way  off.  Let  the  men  have  their  breakfast,  it  is  a  bad 
thing  to  fight  fasting." 

The  men  were  not  long  over  their  meal ;  by  the  time  they 
came  on  deck  again  the  strangers  were  within  five  or  six  miles. 
The  wind  was  in  the  north-east,  and  the  Agile  was  almost  close- 
hauled,  while  the  others  had  the  wind  broad  on  their  quarters. 
There  was  now  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  outside  vessels 
were  two  large  British  West  Indiamen,  and  the  fact  that  they 
were  in  company  with  what  was  undoubtedly  a  French  frigate 


318  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

was  regarded  as  absolute  proof  that  war  had  been  declared, 
and  that  the  French  ship  of  war  on  her  way  out  to  the  colonies 
with  the  news  had  overtaken  and  captured  the  two  British 
ships,  which  were  probably  sailing  in  company.  As  they 
approached,  the  Agile  was  luffed  up  more  into  the  wind  in 
order  to  pass  between  the  Frenchman  and  the  prize  within 
a  few  cables'  length  to  starboard  of  him. 

"  How  many  guns  do  you  make  her  out  to  be,  Mr.  Lippin- 
cott?" 

"  I  think  that  she  has  eighteen  guns  on  a  broadside." 

"The  odds  are  pretty  strongly  against  us,"  Nat  said;  "but 
we  shall  have  the  weather-gauge,  that  counts  for  a  good  deal. 
Anyhow,  we  shall  be  able  to  annoy  her,  and  possibly,  if  we 
hang  on  to  her,  the  sound  of  firing  will  bring  up  one  of  our 
cruisers  from  Barbuda  or  Antigua." 

An  awning  which  was  stretched  over  the  quarter-deck  had 
not  been  taken  down,  and  as  the  brigantine  approached  the 
French  frigate,  there  was  no  sign  that  her  intentions  were  not 
of  a  peaceable  nature.  The  French  ensign  floated  from  the 
peak,  the  sailors  on  deck  were  lounging  about,  some  with 
their  jackets  on,  others  in  their  shirts,  and  only  a  few  wkh 
hats  on  seemed  to  be  watching  with  idle  curiosity  the  ap- 
proaching vessels.  Nat  and  the  officers  retained  their  uniforms, 
for  as  only  their  heads  and  shoulders  showed  over  the  rail, 
there  was  nothing  to  distinguish  them  from  those  of  a  fine 
French  privateer,  for  these  generally  adopted  a  regular  naval 
dress.  The  two  vessels  were  but  fifty  yards  apart  as  they 
met.  Nat  sprang  on  to  the  rail,  and  in  reply  to  the  hail  from 
the  Frenchman,  "  What  ship  is  that  ?  "  raised  his  cap  in  salute 
and  shouted : 

"  The  Agile  of  Bordeaux.  Hare  you  any  news  from  France, 
sir?" 

"  Yes,  war  has  been  declared  with  England." 


NAT    SPRANG    ON    TO   THE    RAIL. 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  319 

"Thank  you,  that  is  good  news  indeed,"  and  he  leapt  down 
on  to  the  deck. 

The  vessels  were  both  travelling  at  a  speed  of  about  eight 
knots  an  hour,  and  were  already  passing  one  another  fast,  when, 
as  Nat  waved  his  hand,  the  French  flag  was  run  down,  an 
English  ensign  already  fastened  to  the  halyards  was  simul- 
taneously run  up,  and  a  moment  later  the  five  guns,  which 
had  previously  been  trained  to  bear  aft  and  double-shotted, 
poured  their  broadside  into  the  quarters  of  the  French  frigate. 
Shouts  of  surprise  and  fury  rose  from  her;  no  thought  that 
the  little  craft  so  fearlessly  approaching  her  was  an  enemy 
had  crossed  the  mind  of  any  on  board,  still  less  that  if  British 
she  would  venture  to  fire  upon  so  vastly  superior  a  foe. 

"  About  ship ! "  Nat  said,  the  instant  the  guns  had  been  fired. 
The  sail-trimmers  were  at  their  places,  the  Agile  shot  up  into 
the  wind,  her  head  paid  off,  and  she  swept  round  on  the  other 
tack,  crossing  the  stern  of  the  Frenchman,  her  guns  on  the 
starboard  side  sending  their  shot  in  through  his  stern  windows, 
and  raking  his  whole  length  as  they  were  brought  to  bear; 
then  she  wore  round  on  her  heel,  the  guns  on  the  larboard 
side  were  reloaded,  and  she  again  raked  the  Frenchman.  So 
far  not  a  single  shot  had  been  fired  in  return.  The  din  on 
board  the  frigate  was  prodigious,  as  the  guns  had  to  be  cast 
loose,  magazines  opened,  powder  and  shot  carried  up,  and  the 
sails  trimmed  to  enable  her  to  bear  up  so  as  to  show  her  broad- 
side to  her  puny  foe. 

Before  she  could  do  so  the  Agile,  true  to  her  name,  was 
again  round.  The  Frenchmen,  confused  by  the  variety  of 
orders  issued,  were  slow  at  their  work,  and  as  their  opponent 
came  up  into  the  wind  the  brigantine  was  again  astern  of  them, 
and  raked  them  this  time  with  heavy  charges  of  grape.  A 
chorus  of  shrieks  and  cries  from  the  frigate  told  how  terrible 
was  the  effect. 


320  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  By  St.  Patrick,"  the  surgeon  exclaimed  to  Lippincott,  "  it 
is  grand !  But  it  looks  as  if  the  captain  was  n't  going  to  give 
me  a  chance,  and  all  me  instruments  laid  out  ready  for  action." 

"Never  mind,  doctor,  you  will  be  able  to  practise  on  the 
Frenchmen,"  Lippincott  laughed. 

But  the  French  captain  knew  his  business,  and  putting  his 
helm  over  again,  ran  off  the  wind,  so  that  the  two  vessels 
were  now  on  the  same  tack,  with  the  Agile  on  her  opponent's 
quarter.  Several  of  the  French  guns  were  now  brought  to  bear, 
but  their  discharge  was  too  hurried,  and  owing  to  the  brigan- 
tine  lying  so  much  lower  in  the  water,  the  shot  flew  between 
her  masts  or  made  holes  in  her  mainsail.  In  a  moment  she 
was  round  again,  and  crossed  her  opponent's  stern  at  a  distance 
of  some  thirty  yards,  the  word  being  passed  along  that  the 
gunners  were  to  aim  at  the  rudder-post  and  to  double-shot  the 
guns.  A  loud  cheer  rose  as  two  of  the  shots  struck  the  mark. 
The  Frenchman  replied  with  a  volley  of  musketry  from  the 
marines  gathered  on  her  poop.  Three  of  the  sailors  fell,  and 
several  others  were  hit. 

The  Frenchman  was,  when  the  Agile  delivered  her  last 
broadside,  running  nearly  before  the  wind,  and  it  was  speedily 
evident  that  the  injury  to  her  rudder  had  been  fatal,  for 
although  she  attempted  by  trimming  her  sails  again  to  bear 
up,  each  time  she  fell  off,  though  not  before  some  of  her 
shot  had  hulled  her  active  opponent.  Seeing,  however,  that 
he  must  now  be  easily  outmanoeuvred,  the  Frenchman  made 
no  further  effort  to  change  his  course,  but  continued  doggedly 
on  his  way,  the  topmen  swarming  aloft  and  shaking  out  more 
canvas.  The  Agile  followed  the  frigate's  example,  and  placing 
herself  on  her  stern  quarter,  kept  up  a  steady  fire,  yawing 
when  necessary  to  bring  all  her  guns  to  bear,  the  French 
replying  occasionally  with  one  of  their  stern  guns.  Owing  to 
the  accelerated  speed  at  which  both  vessels  were  now  going, 


A    FRENCH    FRIGATE  321 

the  Indiamen  had  been  left  behind.  Half  an  hour  later  the 
frigate's  mizzen-mast,  which  had  been  severely  wounded  by 
the  first  broadside,  went  over  her  side.  Cheer  after  cheer 
rose  from  the  Agile ;  her  opponent  was  now  at  her  mercy. 
She  had  but  to  repeat  the  tactics  with  which  she  had  begun 
the  fight.  Just  as  Nat  gave  the  order  to  do  so,  musket  shots 
were  heard  in  the  distance.  The  crew  of  one  of  the  merchant- 
men had  been  allowed  to  remain  on  deck,  as,  being  under  the 
guns  of  the  frigate,  there  was  no  possibility  of  their  attempting 
to  overpower  their  captors.  As  soon,  however,  as  it  became 
evident  that  the  frigate  was  getting  the  worst  of  it,  they  had 
been  hurried  below,  and  the  hatches  dropped  over  them. 
From  the  port-holes,  however,  they  could  obtain  a  view  of 
what  was  going  on  ahead  of  them,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw 
the  frigate's  mast  go  by  the  board,  they  armed  themselves 
with  anything  that  would  serve  as  weapons,  managed  to  push 
up  the  after-hatch,  and  rushed  on  deck.  The  prize  crew  were 
all  clustered  forward  watching  the  fight;  a  shout  from  the 
helmsman  apprised  them  of  their  danger,  and  they  rushed  aft. 
They  were,  however,  less  numerous  than  the  British  sailors, 
and  no  better  armed,  for,  believing  that  the  frigate  would 
easily  crush  her  tiny  assailant,  they  were  unprepared  to  take 
any  part  in  the  fight. 

The  contest  was  a  very  short  one.  Knowing  that  the  frigate 
was  crippled,  and  that  the  brigantine  would  soon  be  free  to 
return  to  them,  the  Frenchmen  saw  that  they  must  eventually 
be  taken,  and  the  officer  in  command  being  knocked  senseless 
with  a  belaying-pin,  they  threw  down  their  knives  and  sur- 
rendered. The  other  Indiaman  at  once  put  down  her  helm 
on  seeing  that  the  British  flag  was  being  run  up  on  her 
consort. 

"We  must  not  let  that  fellow  get  away,"  Nat  said;  "we 
can  leave  the  frigate  alone  for  half  an  hour.  We  will  give  him 


322  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

two  more  broadsides  with  grape  through  his  stern  windows, 
and  then  bear  up  after  that  lumbering  merchantman.  We 
shall  be  alongside  in  half  an  hour." 

In  less  than  that  time  they  were  within  pistol-shot  of  the 
West  Indiaman,  and  the  prize  crew  at  once  hauled  down  their 
flag.  The  Agile  went  alongside,  released  the  prisoners,  who 
had  been  securely  fastened  in  the  hold,  and  replaced  them  by 
the  French  crew.  The  Indiaman's  officers  had  been  allowed  to 
remain  on  deck. 

"Now,  captain,"  Nat  said  to  the  English  master,  "please 
keep  every  sail  full  and  follow  us.  It  will  not  be  long  before 
we  settle  with  the  frigate,  and  we  shall  then  run  down  to  Bar- 
bados." 

The  master,  who  was  greatly  surprised  at  the  youth  of  the 
officer  who  had  so  ably  handled  his  ship  against  an  immensely 
superior  foe,  said : 

"  Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  the  splendid  way  in  which 
you  have  handled  your  vessel.  I  could  scarcely  believe  my 
eyes  when  you  opened  fire  on  the  frigate.  It  seemed  impos- 
sible that  you  should  have  thought  of  really  engaging  such  an 
opponent."  ' 

"  You  see,  we  had  the  weather  gauge  of  her,  captain,  and  the 
brigantine  is  both  fast  and  handy.  But  I  must  be  off  now 
before  they  have  time  to  get  into  fighting  trim  again." 

In  another  half-hour  he  was  in  his  old  position  under  the 
frigate's  quarter,  and  was  preparing  to  resume  his  former 
tactics,  when  the  French  flag  fluttered  down  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  Agile's  crew,  which  were  faintly  repeated  by  the  two 
merchantmen  a  mile  astern. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  that  they  have  surrendered,"  Nat  said  to 
Turnbull ;  "  it  would  have  been  a  mere  massacre  if  they  had 
been  obstinate.  Now,  will  you  go  on  board  and  see  what  state 
she  is  in.  Do  not  accept  the  officers'  swords.  They  have 


A    FRENCH    FRIGATE  323 

done  all  that  they  could,  but  they  really  never  had  a  chance 
after  we  had  once  got  in  the  right  position.  Order  all  un- 
wounded  men  below.  As  soon  as  you  return  with  your  report 
as  to  the  state  of  things,  I  will  send  you  off  again  with  twenty 
men  to  take  command.  You  had  better  bring  the  officers  back 
with  you.  Mr.  Lippincott,  hoist  a  signal  to  the  merchantmen 
to  lie  to  as  soon  as  they  get  abreast  of  us." 

Mr.  Turnbull  returned  in  twenty  minutes. 

"  It  is  an  awful  sight,"  he  said.  "The  captain  and  the  two 
senior  lieutenants  are  killed,  and  it  was  the  third  lieutenant 
who  ordered  the  flag  to  be  lowered.  Her  name  is  the  Spartane. 
She  carried  a  crew  of  three  hundred  men,  of  whom  fifty  were 
on  board  her  prizes.  She  has  lost  ninety  killed,  and  there  are 
nearly  as  many  more  wounded,  of  whom  at  least  half  are  hit 
with  grape,  and  I  fancy  few  of  them  will  recover ;  the  others 
are  splinter  wounds,  some  of  them  very  bad.  There  are  two 
surgeons  at  work.  I  told  them  that  ours  would  come  to  their 
assistance  as  soon  as  he  had  done  with  our  own  wounded." 

The  third  lieutenant  and  three  midshipmen,  who  were  the 
sole  survivors  of  the  officers  of  the  Spartane,  soon  came  on 
board. 

"Gentlemen,"  Nat  said,  "I  am  sorry  for  your  misfortune, 
but  assuredly  you  have  nothing  to  reproach  yourselves  with. 
You  did  all  that  brave  men  could  do,  and  did  not  lower  your 
flag  until  further  resistance  would  have  been  a  crime  against 
humanity." 

The  officers  bowed ;  they  were  too  much  depressed  to  reply. 
Their  mortification  was  great  at  being  overpowered  by  a 
vessel  so  much  inferior  in  strength  to  their  own,  and  the 
feeling  was  increased  now  by  seeing  that  their  conqueror  was 
a  lad  no  older  than  the  senior  of  the  midshipmen.  Turnbull's 
cabin  was  at  once  allotted  to  the  lieutenant,  and  a  large  spare 
cabin  to  the  midshipmen.  Leaving  Lippincott  in  charge,  with 


324  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

ten  men,  Nat  went  with  Turnbull  and  the  doctor  on  board  the 
frigate,  and  the  boat  went  back  to  fetch  the  rest  of  the  crew. 
The  merchantmen  had  been  signalled  to  send  as  many  men 
as  they  could  spare  on  board  the  frigate,  and  not  until  these 
arrived  did  Nat  feel  comfortable.  Of  his  own  crew  three  had 
been  killed  and  ten  wounded ;  three  of  these  were  fit  for  duty, 
and  formed  part  of  Lippincott's  party,  and  the  twenty  he  had 
with  him  seemed  lost  on  board  the  frigate.  Although  Turnbull 
had  had  hawsers  coiled  over  the  hatches,  the  thought  that 
there  were  nearly  a  hundred  prisoners  there,  and  that  there 
were  enough  comparatively  slightly  wounded  to  overpower 
the  two  men  placed  as  sentries  over  each  hatchway,  was  a 
very  unpleasant  one.  The  arrival,  however,  of  thirty  of  the 
merchant  sailors,  armed  to  the  teeth,  altered  the  position  of 
affairs. 

The  first  duty  was  to  clear  the  decks  of  the  dead.  These 
were  hastily  sewn  up  in  their  own  hammocks,  with  a  couple  of 
round  shot  at  their  feet,  and  then  launched  overboard.  Those 
of  the  wounded  able  to  walk  were  then  mustered,  and  one  of 
the  French  surgeons  bandaged  all  the  less  serious  wounds. 
After  being  supplied  with  a  drink  of  wine  and  water,  they  were 
taken  below,  and  placed  with  their  companions  in  the  hold. 
Then  the  wreck  of  the  mizzen  was  cut  away,  and  the  frigate 
was  taken  in  tow  by  the  Agile,  her  own  sails  being  left  standing 
to  relieve  the  strain  on  the  hawsers.  The  two  merchantmen 
were  signalled  to  reduce  sail,  and  to  follow,  and  on  no  account 
to  lose  sight  of  the  stern  light  of  the  frigate  after  it  became 
dusk.  Nat  returned,  with  four  of  his  crew,  to  the  Agile,  and 
four  days  later  towed  the  Spartane  into  the  anchorage  off 
Bridgetown,  the  chief  port  of  Barbados,  the  two  West  India- 
men  following.  The  Isis,  a  fine  fifty-gun  frigate,  was  lying 
there.  She  had  arrived  on  the  previous  day,  having  been 
despatched  with  the  news  of  the  outbreak  of  war.  As  her 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  325 

captain  was  evidently  the  senior  officer  on  the  station,  Nat  was 
rowed  on  board. 

"  Are  you  the  officer  in  command  of  that  brigantine  ?  "  the 
captain  asked  in  surprise. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  my  name  is  Glover." 

"  Well,  Lieutenant  Glover,  what  part  did  your  ship  bear  in 
the  fight  with  that  Frenchman?  I  see  by  her  sails  that  she 
was  engaged.  Whom  had  you  with  you?" 

"  We  were  alone,  sir." 

"  What ! "  the  captain  said,  incredulously,  "  do  you  mean  to 
say  that,  with  that  little  ten-gun  craft,  you  captured  a  thirty- 
six-gun  frigate  single-handed?" 

"That  is  so,  sir." 

"Well,  I  congratulate  you  on  it  heartily,"  the  captain 
exclaimed,  shaking  Nat  by  the  hand  with  great  cordiality. 
"You  must  tell  me  all  about  it.  It  is  an  extraordinary  feat 
How  many  men  do  you  carry?" 

"  We  have  forty  seamen,  sir,  and  two  petty  officers." 

"  And  what  are  your  casualties  ?  " 

"  Three  killed  and  ten  wounded." 

"  What  were  the  casualties  of  the  Frenchmen  ?  " 

"Ninety  killed,  including  the  captain  and  the  first  and 
second  lieutenants  and  five  midshipmen,  and  eighty-three 
wounded." 

"  And  how  many  prisoners  ?  " 

"  In  all,  a  hundred  and  thirty,  sir,  of  whom  five-and-twenty 
are  on  board  each  of  those  merchantmen,  which  had  been 
captured  by  the  frigate.  The  crew  of  one  rose  and  mastered 
their  captors  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  frigate's  mizzen-mast  fall, 
and  knew  that  we  must  take  her.  The  prize  crew  in  the  other 
struck  their  flag  as  soon  as  we  came  within  pistol-shot  of  her. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  receive  orders  from  you  as  to  the  dis- 
posal of  the  prisoners.  I  have  had  thirty  men  from  the  mer- 


326  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

chantmen  on  board  the  Spartant,  for  I  could  spare  so  few  men 
that  the  prisoners  might,  without  their  assistance,  have  retaken 
her." 

"  I  will  go  ashore  with  you  presently  and  see  the  governor, 
and  ask  whether  he  can  take  charge  of  them.  If  he  cannot, 
you  can  hand  over  the  greater  part  of  them  to  me.  I  shall 
sail  for  Jamaica  this  evening.  As  to  the  prize,  I  should 
advise  you  to  see  if  you  cannot  get  some  spars  and  rig  a  jury- 
mast  ;  there  are  sure  to  be  some  in  the  dockyard.  While  that 
is  being  done  you  can  go  through  the  formalities  of  inspecting 
the  Indiamen,  for  whose  salvage  you  will  get  a  very  handsome 
sum.  At  any  rate,  if  I  were  you  I  should  keep  them  here 
until  I  was  ready  to  sail,  and  then  go  with  them  and  your 
prize  to  Kingston.  I  should  go  in  in  procession,  as  you  did 
here.  It  is  a  thing  that  you  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of." 

"  We  need  lose  no  time  about  the  mast,  sir.  We  stripped  the 
gear  off  and  got  it  on  board  the  Spartane,  and  towed  her  mast 
behind  her,  thinking  that  perhaps  we  might  not  get  a  suitable 
spar  here.  Of  course  the  lower  mast  will  be  short,  but  that 
will  matter  comparatively  little.  What  is  more  serious  is  that 
her  rudder  is  smashed." 

"  I  doubt  whether  you  can  get  that  remedied  here.  I  should 
advise  you  to  rig  out  a  temporary  rudder.  I  '11  tell  you  what  I 
will  do  —  I  will  send  a  couple  of  hundred  men  on  board  at 
once  under  my  second  officer.  That  will  make  short  work  of 
it,  and  I  am  sure  that  there  is  not  a  man  on  board  who  would 
not  be  glad  to  lend  a  hand  in  fitting  up  a  prize  that  has  been 
so  gallantly  won." 

He  called  his  officers,  who  had  been  standing  apart  during 
this  conversation,  and  introduced  Nat  to  them,  saying: 

"Gentlemen,  I  never  heard  Lieutenant  Glover's  name  until 
a  few  minutes  ago,  but  I  can  with  confidence  tell  you  that  no 
more  gallant  officer  is  to  be  found  in  the  service ;  and  when  I 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  327 

say  that,  with  that  little  ten-gun  brigantine  and  a  crew  of 
forty  men,  he  engaged  the  French  frigate  that  you  see  behind 
her  and  forced  her  to  strike,  after  a  fight  in  which  she  had  a 
hundred  and  seventy  men  killed  or  wounded,  that  he  took  a 
hundred  and  thirty  prisoners,  and  recaptured  those  two  West 
Indiamen  which  were  her  prizes,  I  think  you  will  all  agree  that 
I  am  not  exaggerating.  He  is  naturally  very  anxious  to  be  off. 
The  frigate's  mizzen-mast  is  lying  astern  of  her,  and  will  make 
an  excellent  jury-mast,  as  all  the  gear  is  on  board,  and  only 
requires  shortening.  Her  rudder  is  smashed,  and  a  temporary 
one  must  be  rigged  up;  and,  knowing  that  all  on  board 
will  be  ready  and  glad  to  help  when  they  hear  what  I  have 
told  you,  I  am  going  to  send  two  hundred  men  off  at  once  to 
lend  a  hand.  Will  you  take  command,  Mr.  Lowcock?  You 
will  take  with  you,  of  course,  the  boatswain  and  his  mates  and 
the  carpenters." 

"  I  should  be  glad  to  go  too,  sir,"  the  first  lieutenant  said. 

"  You  and  I  will  go  together,  Mr.  Ferguson,  after  we  have 
had  a  glass  of  wine  and  heard  from  Mr.  Glover  the  details  of 
this  singular  action." 

The  order  was  at  once  given  to  lower  the  boats.  The  story 
that  the  French  frigate  and  her  two  prizes  had  been  captured 
single-handed  by  the  brigantine  speedily  circulated,  and  the 
men  hastened  into  the  boats  with  alacrity.  With  them  went 
the  surgeon  and  his  assistant  to  see  if  they  could  be  of  any 
help  on  board,  while  the  captain,-  his  first  lieutenant,  and  Nat 
went  into  the  cabin,  and  the  latter  related  the  details  of  the 
action. 

"  Skilfully  managed  indeed,  Mr.  Glover ! "  the  captain  said 
when  he  had  finished ;  "  no  one  could  have  done  better.  It 
was  fortunate  indeed  that  your  little  craft  was  so  fast  and 
handy,  for  if  that  frigate  had  brought  her  guns  to  bear  fully 
upon  her  she  ought  to  have  been  able  to  fairly  blow  you  out  of 


328  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

the  water  with  a  single  broadside.  May  I  ask  if  this  is  your 
first  action?" 

"  No,  sir ;  I  was  in  a  tender  of  the  Orpheus  frigate  when  she 
captured  a  very  strong  pirate's  hold  near  the  port  of  Barcela 
in  Caracas,  destroying  the  place  and  capturing  or  blowing  up 
three  of  their  ships." 

"  I  remember  the  affair,"  the  captain  said,  "  and  a  very  gal- 
lant one  it  was ;  for,  if  I  am  right,  the  frigate  could  not  get 
into  the  entrance,  but  landed  her  men,  captured  two  of  the 
pirates'  batteries,  and  turned  the  guns  on  their  ships,  while 
a  schooner  she  had  captured  a  few  days  before  sailed  right  in 
and  engaged  them,  and  was  nearly  destroyed  when  one  of  the 
pirates  blew  up.  The  officer  in  command  of  her  was  killed, 
and  a  midshipman  was  very  highly  spoken  of,  for  he  succeeded 
to  the  command,  and  gallantly  went  on  board  another  pirate 
and  drowned  their  magazine." 

"Much  more  was  said  about  it  than  necessary,"  Nat  said. 

The  captain  looked  surprised. 

"  By  the  way,"  the  lieutenant  broke  in,  "  I  remember  the  name 
now.  Are  you  the  Mr.  Glover  mentioned  in  the  despatches?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  but,  as  I  said,  the  captain  was  good  enough  to 
make  more  of  the  affair  than  it  deserved." 

"  I  expect  that  he  was  the  best  judge  of  that,"  the  captain 
said.  "Well,  after  that?" 

"  After  that,  sir,  I  had  the  command  of  a  little  four-gun 
schooner  which  was  cruising  along  the  coast  of  Hayti  to  pick 
up  fugitives,  when  I  came  across  the  brigantine  I  now  com- 
mand in  the  act  of  plundering  a  merchantman  she  had  just 
captured.  She  left  her  prize  and  followed  me.  I  was  faster 
and  more  weatherly  than  she  was,  and  having  had  the  luck 
to  smash  the  jaws  of  her  gaff  after  a  running  fight  of  seven  or 
eight  miles,  was  able  to  get  back  to  the  prize  and  recapture 
her  before  the  pirate  came  up.  The  crew  of  the  prize  came 


A   FRENCH   FRIGATE  329 

up  and  manned  their  guns,  and  between  us  we  engaged  the 
brigantine  and  carried  her  by  boarding.  On  taking  her  into 
Kingston  the  admiral  gave  me  the  command,  and  raised  my 
crew  from  twenty  to  forty.  We  have  now  been  cruising  for 
four  or  five  months,  but  not  until  we  sighted  the  frigate  and 
her  prizes  have  we  had  the  luck  to  fall  in  with  an  enemy." 

"  Well,  sir,"  the  captain  said,  "  even  admitting  that  you 
have  had  some  luck,  there  is  no  question  that  you  have  util- 
ized your  opportunities  and  have  an  extraordinary  record,  and 
if  you  don't  get  shot  I  prophesy  that  you  will  be  an  admiral 
before  many  officers  old  enough  to  be  your  father.  Now,  I  am 
sure  you  must  be  anxious  to  get  on  board  your  prize  as  soon 
as  possible,  so  we  will  take  you  to  her  at  once." 

In  a  few  minutes  they  were  on  the  deck  of  the  Spartane. 
It  was  a  scene  of  extraordinary  activity.  The  lower  mast  had 
already  been  parbuckled  on  to  the  deck,  where  sheer-legs  had 
been  erected  by  another  party.  The  mast  was  soon  in  its 
place,  and  the  wedges  driven  in,  the  shrouds  had  been  shortened, 
and  men  were  engaged  in  tightening  the  lanyards.  The  top- 
mast was  on  deck  ready  to  be  hoisted.  The  carpenters  were 
busy  constructing  a  temporary  rudder  with  a  long  spar,  to  one 
end  of  which  planks  were  being  fixed,  so  that  it  looked  like  a 
gigantic  paddle.  As  soon  as  this  was  completed,  the  other 
end  of  the  spar  was  lashed  to  the  taffrail.  Strong  hawsers 
were  then  to  be  fastened  to  the  paddle,  and  brought  in  one  on 
each  quarter  and  attached  to  the  drum  of  the  wheel. 

"Now,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  captain  said,  after  watching  the 
work  for  some  little  time,  "  I  will  go  ashore  with  you  to  the 
governor;  you  ought  to  pay  your  respects  to  him.  Fortu- 
nately you  will  not  require  any  assistance  from  him,  for  unless 
I  am  greatly  mistaken  these  jobs  will  be  finished  this  evening ; 
the  masts  and  rigging  will  certainly  be  fixed  before  dusk,  and 
the  carpenters  must  stick  to  their  job  till  it  is  done.  Like  aH 


330  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

make-shifts,  it  will  not  be  so  good  as  the  original,  but  I  think 
it  will  serve  your  turn,  for  there  is  little  likelihood  of  bad 
weather  at  this  time  of  year.  I  suppose  you  intend  to  keep 
the  merchant  seamen  on  board  ?  If  not,  I  will  spare  you  some 
hands." 

"  I  am  much  obliged,  sir,  but  I  think  we  shall  do  very  well. 
It  is  a  fine  reaching  wind,  and  we  shall  scarcely  have  to  handle 
a  sail  between  this  and  Jamaica." 

"Very  well,  I  understand  your  feeling,  you  would  like  to 
finish  your  business  without  help.  That  is  very  natural;  I 
should  do  the  same  in  your  place." 

"  How  about  the  merchantman's  papers,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  shall  tell  the  governor  that  I  have  ordered  them  to  be 
taken  to  Kingston,  where  there  is  a  regular  prize  court,  and 
therefore  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  trouble  with  their 
manifests  here." 

"Then,  if  I  have  your  permission,  captain,  I  will  row  off 
to  them  at  once  and  tell  them  to  get  under  sail  now ;  we  shall 
overhaul  them  long  before  they  get  to  Jamaica.  They  mount 
between  them  six-and-twenty  guns,  and,  keeping  together, 
no  French  privateer,  if  any  have  arrived,  would  venture  to 
attack  them,  especially  as  they  cannot  have  received  news  yet 
that  war  is  declared." 

"  I  think  that  would  be  a  very  good  plan,"  the  captain  said, 
"  for  if  you  were  to  start  with  them  it  is  clear  that  you  would 
only  be  able  to  go  under  half  sail.  It  is  evident  by  your 
account  that  you  are  faster  than  the  frigate,  but  with  a 
reaching  wind  I  suppose  there  is  not  more  than  a  knot 
between  you,  and  if  the  wind  freshens  you  would  find  it  hard 
to  keep  up  with  her." 

The  visit  was  paid.  The  governor  agreed  that  it  would  be 
better  that  the  Indiamen  should  sail  at  once.  Indeed,  they 
had  already  started,  and  were  two  or  three  miles  away  before 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  831 

Nat  and  the  captain  arrived  at  the  governor's  house.  When 
on  shore  Nat  ordered  two  or  three  barrels  of  rum  to  be  sent 
off  in  another  boat  to  the  frigate,  and  on  its  arrival  an  allow- 
ance was  served  ont  to  all  the  workers.  Before  nightfall,  save 
that  the  mizzen-mast  was  some  twenty  feet  lower  than  usual, 
and  that  her  stern  and  quarters  were  patched  in  numerous 
places  with  tarred  canvas,  the  Spartane  presented  her  former 
appearance.  When  the  majority  of  the  crew  had  finished 
their  work,  the  prisoners  were  transferred  to  the  Isis.  Two 
hours  later  the  carpenters  and  boatswain's  party  had  securely 
fixed  the  temporary  rudder,  and  at  daybreak  the  next  morning 
the  two  frigates  and  the  brigantine  started  on  their  westward 
voyage. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ANOTHER    ENGAGEMENT 

three  vessels  kept  company  until,  on  the  third  day 
J.      after  sailing,  they  overtook  the  two  merchantmen.     Nat, 
supposing  that  the  Isis  would  now  leave  them,  went  on  board 
to  thank  the  captain  for  the  great  assistance  that  he  had  given 
him. 

"  I  shall  stay  with  you  now,  Mr.  Glover.  The  news  of  the 
outbreak  of  war  will  be  known  at  Jamaica  by  this  time,  for 
the  despatches  were  sent  off  on  the  day  before  we  sailed  from 
home,  by  the  Fleetwing,  which  is  the  fastest  corvette  in  the 
service.  She  was  to  touch  at  Antigua  and  then  go  straight 
on  to  Port  Royal.  I  was  to  carry  the  news  to  Barbados,  so 
that  it  does  not  make  any  difference  whether  I  reach  King- 
ston two  hours  earlier  or  later.  There  is  a  possibility  that  the 
French  may  have  sent  ships  off  even  before  they  declared  war 


332  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

with  us,  and  as  it  is  certain  that  there  are  several  war-ships 
of  theirs  out  here,  one  of  these  might  fall  in  with  you  before 
you  reach  Jamaica.  Therefore  as  my  orders  are  simply  to 
report  myself  to  the  admiral  at  Kingston,  I  think  it  is  quite 
in  accordance  with  my  duty  that  I  should  continue  to  sail  iu 
company  with  you." 

"Thank  you,  sir.  There  certainly  is  at  least  one  French 
frigate  in  the  bay  of  Hayti,  and  if  she  has  received  the  news 
she  is  quite  likely  to  endeavour  to  pick  up  some  prizes  before 
it  is  generally  known,  just  as  the  Spartane  picked  up  those 
merchantmen,  and  though  possibly  we  might  beat  her  off,  I 
should  very  much  prefer  to  be  let  alone." 

"  Yes,  you  have  done  enough  for  one  trip,  and  I  should 
much  regret  were  you  to  be  deprived  of  any  of  your  captures." 

The  Agile  was  signalled  to  prepare  to  pick  up  her  boat,  and 
Nat  was  soon  on  board  his  own  craft  again.  He  ran  up  to 
within  speaking  distance  of  the  Spartane,  and  shouted  to 
Turnbull  that  the  Isis  was  going  to  remain  in  company  with 
them.  Turnbull  waved  his  hand,  for  although  he  had  not 
entertained  any  fear  of  their  being  attacked,  he  felt  nervous 
at  his  responsibility  if  a  sudden  gale  should  spring  up  and 
the  temporary  rudder  be  carried  away.  It  was  a  comfort  to 
him  to  know  that,  should  this  happen,  the  Isis  would  doubt- 
less take  him  in  tow,  for  in  anything  like  a  wind  the  Agile 
would  be  of  little  use.  However,  the  weather  continued  fine, 
and  in  five  days  after  leaving  Barbados  they  entered  Kingston 
harbour.  Three  hours  before,  the  Isis  had  spread  all  sail,  and 
entered,  dropping  anchor  half  an  hour  before  the  Agile  sailed 
in  in  charge  of  the  three  large  ships.  The  brigantine  was 
heartily  cheered  by  the  crews  of  all  the  vessels  in  port,  but  it 
was  naturally  supposed  that  it  was  the  Isis  that  had  done  the 
principal  work  in  capturing  the  Spartane.  Her  captain,  how- 
ever, had  rowed  to  the  flag-ship  directly  they  came  in  port, 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  333 

leaving  Mr.  Ferguson  to  see  to  the  Spartanc  being  anchored, 
and  had  given  him  a  brief  account  of  the  nature  of  the  pro- 
cession that  was  approaching  three  or  four  miles  away. 

"He  is  a  most  extraordinary  young  officer,"  the  admiral 
said.  "  He  first  distinguished  himself  nearly  three  years  ago 
by  rescuing  the  daughter  of  a  planter  in  Hayti,  who  was 
attacked  by  a  fierce  hound,  and  who  would  have  been  killed 
had  he  not  run  up.  He  was  very  seriously  hurt,  but  managed 
to  despatch  the  animal  with  his  dirk.  Since  that  time  he  has 
been  constantly  engaged  in  different  adventures.  He  was  in 
that  desperate  fight  when  the  Orpheus  broke  up  a  notorious 
horde  of  pirates  on  the  mainland,  and  distinguished  himself 
greatly.  He  was  up  country  in  Hayti  when  the  negroes  rose, 
and  he  there  saved  from  the  blacks  a  lady  and  her  daughter, 
the  same  girl  that  he  had  rescued  from  the  dog,  and  shot 
eight  of  the  villains,  but  had  one  of  his  ribs  broken  by  a  ball. 
In  spite  of  that,  he  carried  the  lady,  who  was  ill  with  fever, 
some  thirty  miles  across  a  rough  country  down  to  Cape 
Frangois  in  a  litter. 

"  Then  I  gave  him  the  command  of  a  little  cockle-shell  of 
a  schooner  mounting  four  guns,  carrying  only  twenty  men. 
Hearing  of  a  planter  and  his  family  in  the  hands  of  the  blacks, 
he  landed  the  whole  of  his  crew,  while  expecting  himself  to 
be  attacked  by  boats,  and  rescued  the  planter,  three  ladies, 
and  six  white  men,  and  got  them  down  on  board,  although 
opposed  by  three  hundred  negroes.  Then  he  captured  the 
brigantine  he  now  commands,  and  a  valuable  prize  that  she 
had  taken,  and  you  say  he  has  now  captured  a  French  thirty- 
six-gun  frigate,  after  a  fight  in  which  she  lost  in  killed  and 
wounded  half  her  crew,  and  recovered  two  Indiamen  she  had 
picked  up  on  her  way  out." 

They  went  out  on  the  quarter-deck,  where  the  admiral 
repeated  to  his  officers  the  story  that  he  had  just  heard,  and 


634  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

from  them  it  soon  circulated  round  the  ship.  Some  of  the 
crew  had  just  cleaned  the  guns  with  which  they  had  returned 
the  salute  fired  by  the  fsis  as  she  entered  the  port  on  arriving 
for  the  first  time  on  the  station,  but  they  were  scarcely  sur- 
prised when,  as  the  brigantine  approached,  the  first  lieutenant 
gave  the  order  for  ten  more  blank  cartridges  to  be  brought 
up,  and  for  the  crew  to  prepare  to  man  the  yards.  But  the 
surprise  of  those  on  board  the  other  ships  of  war  and  the 
merchantmen  was  great  when  they  saw  the  sailors  swarming 
up  the  ratlines  and  running  out  on  the  yards. 

"  It  is  an  unusual  thing,"  the  admiral  remarked  to  the  cap- 
tains of  the  fsis  and  his  own  ship,  "  and  possibly  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  the  service,  but  I  think  the  occasion  excuses  it." 

The  brigantine  did  not  salute  as  she  came  into  the  port,  as 
she  was  considered  to  be  on  the  station. 

"  What  can  they  be  doing  on  board  the  flag-ship  ?  "  Nat  said 
to  Lippincott. 

"  I  think  they  are  going  to  man  the  yards.  It  is  not  the 
king's  birthday,  or  anything  of  that  sort,  that  I  know  of;  but 
as  it  is  just  eight  bells  it  must  be  something  of  the  kind." 

As  they  came  nearly  abreast  of  the  flag-ship,  the  signal, 
"  Well  done,  Agile  /"  was  run  up,  and  at  the  same  moment  there 
was  a  burst  of  white  smoke,  and  a  thundering  report,  and  a 
tremendous  cheer  rose  from  the  seamen  on  the  yards. 

"They  are  saluting  us,  sir,"  Lippincott  exclaimed. 

The  ensign  had  been  dipped  in  salute  to  the  flag,  and  the 
salute  had  been  acknowledged  by  the  admiral  five  minutes 
before.  Lippincott  now  sprang  to  the  stern,  and  again  lowered 
the  ensign.  The  admiral  and  all  his  officers  were  on  their 
quarter-deck,  and  as  he  raised  his  cocked  hat  the  others  stood 
bareheaded.  Nat  uncovered.  He  was  so  moved  that  he  had 
difficulty  in  keeping  back  his  tears,  and  he  felt  a  deep  relief 
when  the  last  gun  had  fired,  and  the  cheers  given  by  his  own 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  885 

handful  of  men  and  by  those  on  board  the  prizes  had  ceased. 
For  the  next  quarter  of  an  hour  he  was  occupied  in  seeing  that 
the  four  vessels  were  anchored  in  safe  berths.  Then,  as  the 
signal  for  him  to  go  on  board  the  flag-ship  was  hoisted,  he 
reluctantly  took  his  place  in  the  gig,  and  went  to  make  his 
report.  The  admiral  saw  by  his  pale  face  that  he  was  com- 
pletely unnerved,  and  at  once  took  him  into  his  cabin. 

"  I  see,  Mr.  Glover,"  he  began  kindly,  "  that  you  would  much 
rather  that  I  did  not  say  anything  to  you  at  present.  The  wel- 
come that  has  been  given  to  you  speaks  more  than  any  words 
could  do  of  our  appreciation  of  your  gallant  feat.  I  do  not  say 
that  you  have  taken  the  first  prize  since  war  was  declared,  for 
it  is  probable  that  other  captures  have  been  made  nearer  home, 
but  at  any  rate,  it  is  the  first  that  has  been  made  in  these 
waters.  I  was  surprised  indeed  when  Captain  Talbot  told  me 
that  he  had  a  hundred  French  prisoners  on  board,  and  some 
fifty  wounded.  As  he  had  not  the  mark  of  a  shot  either 
in  his  sails  or  in  his  hull,  I  could  not  understand,  until  he  gave 
me  an  outline  of  what  had  taken  place  —  of  how  he  had  become 
possessed  of  them.  Is  your  prize  much  injured  ?  " 

"  She  has  a  good  many  shot-holes  on  each  quarter,  sir,  and 
the  stern  lights  and  fittings  are  all  knocked  away.  She  suffered 
no  very  serious  damage.  She  requires  a  new  mizzen-mast ;  but 
there  is  not  a  hole  in  her  canvas,  which  is  all  new,  for  we  fired 
only  at  the  stern,  and  it  was  just  below  the  deck  that  her  mast 
was  damaged." 

"You  have,  I  hope,  written  a  full  report  of  the  engage- 
ment?" 

Nat  handed  in  his  report.  It  was  very  short,  merely  stating 
that,  having  fallen  in  with  the  thirty-six-gun  French  frigate 
the  Spartane,  convoying  two  prizes,  he  had  engaged  her,  and 
after  placing  himself  on  her  quarter,  had  raked  her  until  her 
mizzen-mast  fell,  and  her  rudder  was  smashed;  that,  seeing 


336  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

that  she  could  not  get  away,  he  had  then  returned  to  the 
prizes,  which  turned  out  to  be  the  Jane  of  Liverpool,  of  eight 
hundred  tons  burden,  and,  the  Flora  of  London,  of  nine  hun- 
dred and  thirty.  The  crew  of  the  latter,  on  seeing  that  the 
Spartane  was  crippled,  had  risen  and  overpowered  the  prize 
crew.  The  other  struck  her  colours  when  he  came  up  to  her. 
He  then  returned  to  the  Spartane,  which  struck  her  flag  with- 
out further  resistance. 

"  I  desire  to  bring  to  your  notice  the  great  assistance  I  re- 
ceived from  Lieutenant  Turnbull,  whom  I  afterwards  placed 
in  charge  of  the  prize,  and  from  Mr.  Lippincott.  It  is  also  my 
duty  to  mention  that  assistant-surgeon  Doyle  has  been  inde- 
fatigable in  his  attentions  to  my  own  wounded  and  those  of  the 
Spariane" 

Then  followed  the  list  of  his  own  casualties,  and  those  of 
the  Spartane, 

"  A  very  official  report,  Mr.  Glover,"  the  admiral  said  with 
a  smile,  when  he  had  glanced  through  it.  "However,  the 
admiralty  will  wish  to  know  the  details  of  an  action  of  so  ex- 
ceptional a  character,  and  I  must  therefore  ask  you  to  send 
me  in  as  complete  an  account  of  the  affair  as  possible,  both 
for  my  own  information  and  theirs.  Now,  I  think  you  had 
better  take  a  glass  of  wine.  I  can  see  that  you  really  need 
one,  and  you  will  have  to  receive  the  congratulations  of  my 
officers.  By  the  way,  do  you  know  anything  of  the  cargoes  of 
the  two  ships  you  retook  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  have  really  not  had  time  to  enquire.  Till  we 
left  Barbados  I  was  constantly  employed,  and  on  my  way 
out  I  have  kept  close  to  the  Spartane  in  order  to  be  able  to 
assist  at  once  if  anything  went  wrong  with  the  steering-gear. 
I  should  wish  to  say,  sir,  that  I  feel  under  the  deepest  obliga- 
tions to  Captain  Talbot  for  the  great  assistance  that  he  and  his 
crew  have  rendered  me  in  getting  up  the  jury-mast,  and  fitting 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  337 

up  the  temporary  rudder.  Had  it  not  been  for  that  I  might 
have  been  detained  for  some  time  at  Barbados." 

Having  drunk  a  glass  of  wine,  Nat  went  out  with  the  admiral 
on  to  the  quarter-deck.  The  officers  pressed  round,  shook 
hands,  and  congratulated  him.  It  did  not  last  long,  for  the 
admiral  said  kindly: 

"The  sound  of  our  cannon,  gentlemen,  has  had  a  much 
greater  effect  upon  Mr.  Glover's  nerves  than  had  those  of  his 
prize,  and  I  think  we  must  let  him  off  without  any  further 
congratulations  for  to-day.  Besides,  he  has  a  long  report  to 
write  for  me,  and  a  good  many  other  things  to  see  to." 

Nat  was  glad  indeed  to  take  his  place  in  the  gig,  and  to 
return  to  the  Agile.  He  spent  two  hours  in  writing  his  report 
in  duplicate.  When  he  had  done  this  he  went  ashore  to  the 
prize  agent  to  enquire  what  formalities  were  needed  with  regard 
to  the  recaptured  merchantmen  ;  and  having  signed  some  official 
papers,  he  went  up  to  Monsieur  Duchesne's.  Monsieur  Pickard 
and  his  family  had  sailed  months  before  for  England,  but  the 
Duchesnes  were  still  in  possession  of  the  house  they  had  hired. 
They  enjoyed,  they  said,  so  much  the  feeling  of  rest  and 
security  that  they  were  by  no  means  anxious  for  a  sea  voyage ; 
and  indeed  Madame  Duchesne  was  still  far  from  well,  and  her 
husband  was  reluctant  to  take  her  to  the  cold  climate  of  Eng- 
land until  summer  had  well  set  in. 

"Ah,  my  dear  Nat,"  Madame  Duchesne  said,  "we  were 
hoping  that  you  would  be  able  to  spare  time  to  call  to-day. 
My  husband  would  have  gone  off  to  see  you,  but  he  knew  that 
you  had  a  great  deal  to  do.  All  the  town  is  talking  of  your 
capture  of  the  French  frigate,  and  the  recapture  of  the  two 
prizes  that  she  had  taken.  Several  of  our  friends  have  come 
in  to  tell  us  about  it ;  but  of  course  we  were  not  surprised,  for 
your  capturing  the  frigate  with  the  Agile  was  no  more  wonder- 
ful than  your  taking  the  Agile  with  the  Arrow" 


338  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

"  It  was  a  lucky  affair  altogether,  Madame  Duchesne." 

"I  knew  that  you  would  say  so,"  Myra  said  indignantly. 
"Whatever  you  do  you  always  say  it  is  luck,  as  if  luck  could 
do  everything.  I  have  no  patience  with  you." 

"  I  will  endeavour  not  to  use  the  word  again  in  your  presence, 
Myra,"  Nat  laughed.  "  But  I  have  no  time  for  an  argument 
to-day,  I  have  only  just  run  in  for  a  flying  visit  to  see  how 
you  are.  I  have  no  end  of  things  to  see  to,  and  I  suppose 
it  will  be  some  days  before  all  the  business  of  the  prizes  is 
finished,  the  frigate  formally  handed  over,  and  the  value  of 
the  Indiamen  and  their  cargo  estimated.  However,  as  soon 
as  I  am  at  all  free  I  will  come  in  for  a  long  talk.  You  know 
that  there  is  nowhere  that  I  feel  so  happy  and  at  home  as  I 
do  here." 

It  was  indeed  three  days  before  he  had  time  to  pay  another 
visit. 

"  It  is  too  bad  of  you,  not  coming  to  dinner,"  Myra  said  as 
he  entered.  "We  really  did  expect  you." 

"  I  hoped  that  I  should  be  able  to  get  here  in  time,  but  ever 
since  I  saw  you  I  have  been  going  backwards  and  forwards 
between  the  ships  and  the  shore,  calling  at  the  dockyard  and 
prize  court.  To-day  there  has  been  a  regular  survey  of  the 
Spartane.  They  were  so  long  over  it  that  I  began  to  think  I 
should  not  be  able  to  get  away  at  all." 

"You  will  be  becoming  quite  a  millionaire,"  Monsieur 
Duchesne  said,  "if  you  go  on  like  this." 

"  Well,  you  see,  we  were  lucky  —  I  beg  your  pardon,  Myra 
• — I  mean  we  were  fortunate.  We  had  a  very  small  crew  on 
board  the  Arrow,  and  as  it  was  an  independent  command, 
the  whole  of  the  prize-money  for  the  capture  of  the  Agile  and 
her  prize  was  divided  among  us,  with  the  exception  of  the 
flag  share  ;  and  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  that  my  share  came  to 
^2500.  Without  knowing  anything  of  the  cargoes  of  the 


ANOTHER   ENGAGEMENT  339 

prizes  that  I  have  recaptured  now,  and  what  will  be  paid  for 
the  Spartane,  I  should  think  that  my  share  would  come  to 
twice  as  much  this  time,  so  that  I  shall  be  able  before  long  to 
retire  into  private  life  —  that  is,  if  I  have  any  inclination  to  do 
so." 

"  But  I  suppose,"  Madame  Duchesne  said,  "  that  if  you 
marry  you  will  want  to  settle  down." 

"  I  am  too  young  to  think  of  such  a  matter,  madame,"  Nat 
laughed.  "  Why,  I  am  only  just  nineteen,  and  it  will  be  quite 
soon  enough  to  think  of  that  in  another  eight  or  ten  years. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  when  the  time  comes  I  shall  give 
up  the  sea.  I  don't  think  it  is  fair  to  a  wife  to  leave  her  at 
home  while  you  are  running  the  risk  of  being  shot.  It  is  bad 
enough  for  her  in  time  of  peace,  but  in  war-time  it  must  be 
terrible  for  her,  and  it  strikes  me  that  this  war  is  likely  to  be 
a  long  one.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  a  question  for  a  man 
to  ask  himself,  whether  he  loves  his  profession  or  a  woman 
better.  If  he  cares  more  for  the  sea,  he  should  remain  single  ; 
if  he  thinks  more  of  the  woman,  let  him  settle  down  with  her." 

"That  sounds  very  wise,"  Monsieur  Duchesne  said  with  a 
smile,  "  but  when  the  time  comes  for  the  choice  I  fancy  that 
most  men  do  not  accept  either  alternative,  but  marry  and  still 
go  to  sea." 

"That  is  all  right  when  they  have  only  their  profession  to 
depend  upon,"  Nat  said.  "  Then,  if  a  woman,  with  her  eyes 
open  to  the  fact  that  he  must  be  away  from  her  for  months, 
is  ready  to  take  a  man  for  better  or  for  worse,  I  suppose  the 
temptation  is  too  strong  to  be  withstood.  Happily  it  won't 
be  put  in  my  way,  for  even  if  I  never  take  another  ship  I  shall 
have  enough  to  live  on  quietly  ashore." 

"  Now,  you  must  tell  us  the  story  of  the  fight,"  Myra  said. 

"  The  story  is  told  in  twenty  words,"  he  replied.  "  She  did 
not  suspect  that  we  were  an  enemy  until  we  had  passed  her, 


340  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

and  our  broadside  told  her  what  we  were.  As  the  Agile  is 
faster  and  much  more  handy  than  the  frigate,  we  managed  to 
keep  astern  of  her,  and,  sailing  backwards  and  forwards,  poured 
our  broadsides  in  her  stern,  while  she  could  scarce  get  a  gun  to 
bear  on  us.  We  managed  to  cripple  her  rudder,  and  after  this 
the  fight  was  virtually  over.  However,  she  kept  her  flag 
flying  till  we  shot  away  her  mizzen,  after  which,  seeing  that 
she  was  at  our  mercy,  and  that  her  captain,  two  lieutenants, 
and  more  than  half  her  crew  were  killed  or  wounded,  she 
lowered  her  colours.  Now,  really  that  is  the  whole  account 
of  the  fight.  If  I  were  telling  a  sailor,  who  would  understand 
the  nautical  terms,  I  could  explain  the  matter  more  clearly, 
but  if  I  were  to  talk  for  an  hour  you  would  understand  no 
more  about  it  than  you  do  now." 

An  hour  later,  Nat  went  out  with  Monsieur  Duchesne  to 
smoke  a  cigar  on  the  verandah,  Myra  remaining  indoors  with 
her  mother,  who  was  afraid  of  sitting  out  in  the  cool  evening 
breeze. 

"Going  back  to  our  conversation  about  marriage,  Nat," 
Monsieur  Duchesne  said,  "  it  is  a  question  which  my  wife  and 
I  feel  some  little  interest  in.  You  see,  it  is  now  more  than  three 
years  since  you  saved  Myra's  life,  after  which  you  rendered 
her  and  my  wife  inestimable  service.  Now,  I  know  that  in 
your  country  marriages  are  for  the  most  part  arranged  between 
the  young  people  themselves.  With  us  such  an  arrangement 
would  be  considered  indecent.  If  your  father  and  mother  were 
out  here,  the  usual  course  would  be  for  your  mother  to  approach 
my  wife  and  talk  the  matter  over  with  her.  My  wife  would 
consult  with  me,  and  finally,  when  we  old  people  had  quite 
come  to  an  understanding,  your  father  would  speak  to  you  on 
the  subject.  All  this  is  impossible  here.  Now,  it  seems  to  my 
wife  and  myself  that,  having  rendered  such  inestimable  ser- 
vices to  us,  and  having  been  thrown  with  my  daughter  a  good 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  341 

deal  —  who,  I  may  say,  without  any  undue  vanity,  is  a  very 
attractive  young  lady  —  you  could  scarcely  be  indifferent  to 
her. 

"As  you  said,  according  to  your  British  notions  you  are 
too  young  to  think  of  marrying ;  and,  at  any  rate,  my  wife  has 
sounded  Myra,  and  the  girl  has  assured  her  that  you  have 
never  said  a  word  to  her  that  would  lead  her  to  believe  you 
entertained  other  than  what  I  may  call  a  brotherly  affection 
for  her.  Now,  I  can  tell  you  frankly,  that  one  of  our  reasons 
for  remaining  here  for  the  past  six  months  has  been  that  we 
desired  that  the  matter  should  be  arranged  one  way  or  the 
other.  It  has  struck  us  that  it  was  not  your  youth  only  that 
prevented  you  from  coming  to  me  and  asking  for  Myra's  hand, 
but  a  foolish  idea  that  she  is,  as  is  undoubtedly  the  case,  a 
very  rich  heiress.  Before  I  go  farther,  may  I  ask  if  that  is 
the  case,  and  if  you  really  entertain  such  an  affection  for  my 
daughter  as  would,  putting  aside  all  question  of  money  and  of 
your  youth,  lead  you  to  ask  her  hand?" 

"  That  I  can  answer  at  once,  sir.  Ever  since  I  first  met  her, 
and  especially  since  I  saw  how  bravely  she  supported  that 
terrible  time  when  she  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  blacks,  I 
have  thought  of  your  daughter  as  the  most  charming  girl  that 
I  have  ever  met.  Of  course,  I  was  but  a  lad  and  she  a  young 
girl  —  no  thought  of  marriage  at  that  time  even  entered  my 
mind.  During  the  past  three  years  that  feeling  has  grown,  until 
I  have  found  that  my  happiness  depends  entirely  upon  her.  I 
felt,  monsieur,  that  my  lips  were  sealed,  not  only  by  the  fact 
that  she  was  an  heiress  and  I  only  a  penniless  lieutenant,  but 
because  it  would  be  most  unfair  and  ungenerous  were  I,  on  the 
strength  of  any  services  I  may  have  rendered,  to  ask  you  for 
her  hand." 

"  It  is  not  on  account  of  those  services,  much  as  we  recog- 
nize them,  that  I  offer  you  her  hand,  but  because  both  her 


342  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

mother  and  herself  feel  that  her  happiness,  which  is  the  great 
object  of  our  lives,  is  involved  in  the  matter.  In  most  cases, 
a  young  lady  well  brought  up  does  not  give  her  heart  until 
her  father  presents  to  her  an  eligible  suitor.  This  is  an  excep- 
tional case.  I  do  think  that  any  girl  whose  life  had  been 
saved,  as  hers  was,  at  the  risk  of  that  of  her  rescuer,  and  who, 
during  a  most  terrible  time,  came  to  look  up  to  him  as  the 
protector  of  herself  and  her  mother,  and  who,  moreover,  was 
constantly  hearing  of  his  daring  actions,  and  to  whom  her 
dearest  friends  also  owed  their  lives,  could  not  but  make  him 
her  hero.  I  need  not  say  that  the  subject  has  not  been 
mooted  to  her,  and  it  was  because  I  desired  the  matter  to  be 
settled  before  we  left  for  Europe  that  we  have  lingered  here. 
I  am  glad  indeed  that  I  now  know  your  feeling  in  the  matter. 
I  am  conscious  that  in  giving  her  to  you  we  are  securing  her 
happiness.  I  have,  of  course,  ever  since  the  day  when  you 
saved  her  from  that  dog,  watched  your  character  very  closely, 
and  the  result  has  been  in  all  respects  satisfactory.  Now,  I 
will  go  in  and  tell  her  that  I  will  take  her  place  by  her  mother's 
side,  and  that  she  may  as  well  come  out  here  and  keep  you 
company." 

In  a  minute  Myra  stepped  out  on  to  the  verandah. 

"  It  is  cool  and  nice  here,  Nat.  I  think  it  would  do  mother 
more  good  out  here  than  keeping  in  the  house,  where  in  the 
first  place  it  is  hot,  while  in  the  second  place  it  gives  me  the 
horrors  to  see  the  way  the  moths  and  things  fly  into  the  lights 
and  burn  themselves  to  death." 

"  No  doubt  it  is  pleasanter  here,"  Nat  said,  wondering  how 
he  ought  to  begin. 

"  That  was  very  soberly  said,  Nat,"  Myra  laughed.  "  One 
would  think  that  it  was  a  proposition  that  required  a  good  deal 
of  consideration." 

"It  was  a  proposition  that  received  no  consideration.     In 


ANOTHER   ENGAGEMENT  343 

point  of  fact,  just  at  present,  dear,  my  head  is  a  little  turned 
with  a  conversation  that  I  have  just  had  with  your  father." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  mean  that  I  see  before  me  a  great  and  unlooked-for 
happiness,  a  happiness  that  I  had  hardly  ventured  even  to 
hope  for,  but  at  present  it  is  incomplete ;  it  is  for  you  to  crown 
it  if  you  can  do  so.  Your  father  has  given  his  consent  to  my 
telling  you  that  I  love  you.  I  do  love  you  truly  and  earnestly, 
Myra,  but  I  should  not  be  content  with  anything  less  than 
your  love.  I  don't  want  it  to  be  gratitude.  I  don't  want  any 
thought  of  that  business  with  the  dog,  or  of  the  other  business 
with  the  blacks,  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it." 

"  They  must  have  something  to  do  with  it,"  she  said  softly, 
"  for  it  was  owing  to  these  that  I  first  began  to  love  you.  It 
was  at  first,  no  doubt,  a  girl's  love  for  one  who  had  done  so 
much  for  her,  but  since  then  it  has  become  a  woman's  love  for 
the  one  man  that  she  should  choose  out  of  all.  I  love  you,  Nat, 
I  love  you  with  all  my  heart." 

Ten  minutes  later  they  went  hand  in  hand  into  the  house. 
Monsieur  Duchesne  had  told  his  wife  what  had  occurred  in 
the  verandah,  and  as  they  came  in  she  rose  and  threw  her  arms 
round  Myra's  neck  and  kissed  her  tenderly. 

"  You  have  chosen  wisely,  my  child,  and  have  made  us  both 
very  happy.  We  can  give  her  to  you,  Monsieur  Glover, 
without  one  misgiving;  we  know  that  in  your  hands  her  life 
will  be  a  happy  one.  And  now,"  she  went  on  with  a  smile, 
"  you  will  have  to  face  that  terrible  problem  you  were  discuss- 
ing an  hour  since.  You  will  have  to  choose  between  a  wife 
and  the  sea." 

"  The  problem  may  be  settled  at  once,  madame,"  Nat  said 
with  a  smile. 

"  At  any  rate,  there  is  no  occasion  to  choose  at  present," 
Madame  Duchesne  went  on.  "  Myra  is  but  just  past  sixteen, 


844  A    ROVING   COMMISSION 

and  her  father  and  I  both  think  that  it  is  as  well  that  you  should 
wait  at  least  a  couple  of  years  before  there  is  any  talk  of  mar- 
riage, both  for  her  sake  and  yours.  After  your  brilliant  ser- 
vices, especially  in  capturing  the  frigate,  you  are  sure  of  rapid 
promotion,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  indeed  for  you  to  give  up 
your  profession  until  you  have  obtained  the  rank  of  captain, 
when  you  could  honourably  retire.  We  shall  leave  for  Eng- 
land very  shortly,  France  is  out  of  the  question.  As  you  said, 
you  and  my  daughter  are  both  young,  and  can  well  afford  to 
wait." 

"  That  is  so,  madame,  we  quite  acquiesce  in  your  decision, 
As  to  your  going  to  England,  it  is  likely  that  I  may  be  going 
there  myself  very  shortly.  The  admiral  hinted  to-day  that,  as 
the  dockyard  people  say  that  the  Spartane  can  be  ready  for 
sea  in  ten  days  or  so,  he  will  probably  send  me  home  in  her. 
He  very  kindly  kept  back  my  report  of  the  action,  and  merely 
stated  that  the  French  frigate  Spartane  had  been  brought  in 
in  tow  by  his  majesty's  brigantine  Agile,  together  with  two 
merchantmen  she  had  captured  on  her  way  out,  which  had  also 
been  retaken  by  the  Agile,  and  said  that  he  thought  it  was 
only  fair  that  I  should  carry  back  my  own  report  and  his 
full  despatch  on  the  subject.  Of  course  I  may  be  sent  out 
again,  or  I  may  be  employed  on  other  service.  At  any  rate 
I  shall  be  able  to  get  a  short  leave  before  I  go  to  sea  again. 
I  have  been  out  here  now  six  years,  and  feel  entitled  to  a 
little  rest  I  would  certainly  rather  be  employed  in  the  Medi- 
terranean than  here,  for  there  is  more  chance  of  seeing  real 
service." 

The  next  day  Nat  received  an  order  from  the  admiral  to 
hand  over  the  command  of  the  Agile  to  Lieutenant  Turnbull. 
Lippincott,  who  would  pass  his  examination  and  receive  his  step, 
was  to  act  as  first  lieutenant,  and  a  midshipman  from  one  of 
the  ships  on  the  station  was  to  be  second  officer.  Nat  himself 


'ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  845 

was  ordered  to  superintend  the  repairs  and  fitting  out  for  sea 
of  the  Spartane. 

"  I  am  awfully  sorry  that  you  are  going,  Glover,"  Turnbull 
said.  "  Of  course  it  is  a  great  pull  for  me  being  appointed  to 
the  command,  but  I  was  very  jolly  and  happy  as  I  was.  I 
don't  think  there  ever  was  a  pleasanter  party  on  board  one  of 
his  majesty's  ships.  However,  of  course  it  is  a  great  lift  for 
me.  I  shall  try  to  keep  things  going  as  comfortably  as  you 
did." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  will  do  that,  Turnbull,  and  you 
have  an  able  ally  in  Doyle." 

"  Doyle  was  inconsolable  when  I  came  on  board  yesterday 
and  told  him  that  you  were  going  home  in  the  S^artane,  and 
that  I  was  to  have  the  command." 

"  It  is  the  worst  news  that  I  have  heard  for  many  a  day," 
Doyle  had  said.  "You  are  very  well,  Turnbull,  and  I  have  no 
sort  of  complaint  to  make  of  you,  but  I  am  afraid  that  the 
luck  will  go  with  Glover.  It  is  his  luck  and  not  the  ship's ; 
whatever  he  has  put  his  hand  to  has  turned  out  well.  I  don't 
say  that  he  has  not  done  his  work  as  well  as  it  could  be  done, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  luck  is  everything.  If  one  of  the 
Agile's  guns  had  knocked  away  a  mast  or  spar  from  the 
Arrow  it  would  have  been  all  up  with  you ;  and  again,  had  a 
shot  from  the  frigate  crippled  us,  she  would  have  been  after 
taking  the  Agile  into  a  French  port  instead  of  our  bringing 
her  in  here." 

"Yes,  but  then  you  see  that  upon  both  occasions  Glover 
put  his  craft  where  it  was  difficult  to  get  their  guns  to  bear  on 
her." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  know  that ;  but  that  does  not  alter  it  a  bit.  If 
there  had  been  only  one  shot  fired,  and  had  we  been  an 
unlucky  boat,  it  would,  sure  enough,  have  brought  one  of  the 
spars  about  our  ears." 


346  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"Well,  Doyle,  it  may  be  that  it  was  my  luck,  and  not 
Glover's,  that  pulled  us  through.  You  see,  I  should  have  been 
shot  or  had  my  throat  cut  by  the  pirates  if  we  had  been 
taken  by  them,  so  possibly  I  am  the  good  genius  of  the  boat ; 
or  it  may  be  Lippincott." 

"  Botheration  to  you  ! "  the  Irishman  said,  as  he  saw  by  a 
twinkle  in  Turnbull's  eye  that  he  was  really  chaffing  him; 
"there  is  one  thing  certain,  if  you  get  wounded  and  fall  into 
my  hands,  you  will  not  regard  that  as  a  matter  of  luck. " 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,  doctor,  Glover  told  me  half  an  hour  ago 
of  a  piece  of  luck  in  which  none  of  us  here  can  share.  He  is 
engaged  to  that  very  pretty  French  girl  whom  he  is  always 
calling  on  when  we  are  in  port." 

"I  thought  that  was  what  would  come  of  it,  Turnbull," 
Lippincott  said ;  "  it  would  be  rum  if  she  had  n't  fallen  in  love 
with  him  after  all  that  he  did  for  her." 

"  I  was  greatly  taken  with  her  myself,"  the  doctor  said, 
"  the  first  time  she  came  on  board,  but  I  saw  with  half  an  eye 
that  the  race  was  lost  before  I  had  time  to  enter.  Besides,  I 
could  not  afford  to  marry  without  money,  and  one  of  these 
poor  devils  of  planters,  who  have  had  to  run  away  from  Hayti 
with,  for  the  most  part,  just  the  clothes  they  stood  up  in,  would 
hardly  make  the  father-in-law  yours  faithfully  would  desire. 
I  wonder  myself  how  they  manage  to  keep  up  such  a  fine 
establishment  here,  but  I  suppose  they  had  a  little  put  away 
in  an  old  stocking,  and  are  just  running  through  it.  They  are 
shiftless  people,  are  these  planters,  and,  having  been  always 
used  to  luxuries,  don't  know  the  value  of  money." 

Turnbull  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter  in  which  Lippincott 
joined,  for  in  the  early  days  of  the  cruise  on  the  Arrow  they 
had  heard  from  Nat  how  his  friends  had  for  generations  laid 
by  a  portion  of  their  revenues,  and  allowed  the  interest  to 
accumulate,  so  that,  now  that  the  time  had  come  for  utilizing 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  347 

the  reserve,  they  were  really  much  richer  people  than  they 
had  been  when  living  on  their  fine  plantation.  Doyle  looked 
astonished  at  their  laughter. 

"  My  dear  Doyle,"  Turnbull  went  on,  "  it  is  too  comical  to 
hear  you  talking  of  a  shiftless  planter  —  you,  belonging  as  you 
do  to  the  most  happy-go-lucky  race  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Now,  I  will  ask  you,  did  you  ever  hear  of  a  family  of  Irish 
squires  who  for  generations  put  aside  a  tenth  part  of  their 
income,  and  allowed  the  interest  to  accumulate  without  touch- 
ing it,  so  that,  when  bad  times  came,  they  found  that  they 
were  twice  as  well  off  as  they  were  before?" 

"  Begorra,  you  are  right,  Turnbull ;  never  did  I  hear  of  such 
a  thing,  and  I  don't  believe  it  ever  happened  since  the  first 
Irish  crossed  the  seas  from  somewhere  in  the  east." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,  Doyle,  that  is  what  the  Duchesnes  have 
done,  and  I  should  think,  from  what  Glover  says  —  though  he 
did  not  mention  any  precise  sum,  for  he  did  not  know  himself 
—  but  I  should  say  that  it  must  come  to  at  least  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds." 

"  Mother  of  Moses  !  "  the  doctor  exclaimed ;  "  it  is  a  mighty 
bad  turn  you  have  done  me,  Turnbull,  that  you  never  gave  me 
as  much  as  a  hint  of  this  before.  I  should  have  been  sorry  for 
Glover,  who  is  in  all  ways  a  good  fellow ;  still  I  should  have 
deemed  it  my  duty  to  my  family,  who  once  —  as  you  know,  is 
the  case  of  almost  every  other  family  in  the  ould  country  — 
were  Kings  of  Ireland.  I  should  have  restored  the  ancient 
grandeur  of  my  family,  built  a  grand  castle,  and  kept  open 
house  to  all  comers  —  and  to  think  that  I  never  knew  it !  " 

"Then  you  think,  doctor,"  Lippincott  said,  with  a  laugh, 
"  that  you  only  had  to  enter  the  lists  to  cut  Glover  out?  " 

"  I  don't  go  quite  so  far  as  that ;  but,  of  course,  now  the  thing 
is  settled  for  good,  it  would  be  of  no  use  trying  to  disturb  it, 
and  it  would  hardly  be  fair  on  Glover.  But,  you  see,  as  long  as 


848  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

it  was  an  open  matter,  I  might  have  well  tried  my  luck.  I 
should  have  had  great  advantages.  You  see,  I  am  a  grown 
man,  whereas  Glover  is  still  but  a  lad.  Then,  though  I  say 
it  myself,  I  could  talk  his  head  off,  and  am  as  good  as  those 
who  have  kissed  the  Blarney  stone  at  bewildering  the  dear 
creatures." 

"  Those  are  great  advantages,  no  doubt,  Doyle ;  but,  you  see, 
Glover  had  one  advantage  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  counted 
with  the  lady  more  than  all  those  you  have  enumerated.  He 
had  saved  her  life  at  the  risk  of  his  own,  he  had  carried  her, 
and  her  mother,  through  terrible  dangers." 

"  Yes,  yes,  there  is  something  in  that,"  Doyle  said,  shaking 
his  head ;  "  if  the  poor  young  fellow  is  satisfied  with  gratitude 
I  have  nothing  more  to  say.  At  any  rate,  I  have  lost  my 
chance.  Now,  perhaps,  as  you  know  all  about  this,  you  might 
put  me  up  to  some  other  lady  in  similar  circumstances,  but 
with  a  heart  free  to  bestow  upon  a  deserving  man." 

"  I  should  not  be  justified  in  doing  so,  Doyle.  After  what  you 
have  been  saying  about  building  a  baronial  castle,  and  keeping 
open  house,  it  is  clear  that  you  would  soon  bring  a  fortune  to 
an  end,  however  great  it  might  be ;  and,  therefore,  I  should 
not  feel  justified  in  aiding  you  in  any  way  in  your  matrimonial 
adventures." 

"It's  a  poor  heart  that  never  rejoices,"  the  doctor  said. 
"  The  tumblers  are  empty.  Sam,  you  rascal,  bring  us  another 
bottle  of  that  old  Jamaica,  fresh  limes,  and  cold  water.  It  is 
one  of  the  drawbacks  of  this  bastely  climate  that  there  is  no 
pleasure  in  taking  your  punch  hot." 

One  of  the  negroes  brought  in  the  materials. 

"  Now,  doctor,"  Turnbull  said,  "  I  know  that  in  spite  of  this 
terrible  disappointment  you  will  drink  heartily  the  toast,  '  Nat 
Glover  and  Mademoiselle  Duchesne,  and  may  they  live  long 
and  happily  together ! '  " 


ANOTHER  ENGAGEMENT  349 

"  That  is  good,"  Doyle  said  as  he  emptied  his  tumbler  at  a 
draught ;  "  nothing  short  of  a  bumper  would  do  justice  to  it. 
Hand  me  the  bottle  again,  Lippincott,  and  cut  me  a  couple  of 
slices  off  that  lime.  Yes,  I  will  take  two  pieces  of  sugar,  please, 
Turnbull.  Now  I  am  going  to  propose  a  toast, '  The  new  com- 
mander of  the  Agile,  and  may  she,  in  his  hands,  do  as  well  as 
she  did  in  those  of  Nat  Glover.' " 

Three  days  later  the  Agile  started  on  another  cruise.  Nat 
spent  his  time  in  the  dockyard,  where  he  was  so  well  known 
to  all  the  officials  that  they  did  everything  in  their  power  to 
aid  him  to  push  matters  forward,  and  a  week  after  the  brigan- 
tine  had  left  the  Spartane  was  ready  for  sea.  Nat  had  seen  the 
admiral  several  times,  but  had  heard  nothing  from  him  as  to 
who  were  the  officers  who  were  to  take  the  Spartane  home,  nor 
whether  he  was  to  sail  as  a  passenger  bearing  despatches  or  as 
one  of  the  officers.  When  he  went  on  board  the  flag-ship  to 
report  that  all  was  ready  for  sea,  the  admiral  said  : 

"  Mr.  Winton,  first  lieutenant  of  the  Onyx,  is  invalided  home. 
He  is  a  good  officer,  but  the  climate  has  never  agreed  with 
him,  and,  as  his  father  has  lately  died  and  he  has  come  into 
some  property,  he  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  go  on  half-pay  for  a 
time  until  he  is  thoroughly  set  up  again.  I  shall  therefore 
appoint  him  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Spartane;  Mr.  Plumber, 
second  lieutenant  of  the  Tiger,  will  go  second. 

"I  have  decided,  Mr.  Glover,  to  give  you  the  rank  of 
acting  commander.  You  captured  the  ship,  and  it  is  fair 
that  you  should  take  her  to  England.  Mind,  I  think  it  prob- 
able enough  that  the  authorities  at  home  may  not  be  willing 
to  confirm  your  rank,  as  it  is  but  little  over  two  years  since 
you  obtained  your  present  grade.  I  feel  that  1  am  incurring  a 
certain  responsibility  in  giving  you  the  command  of  a  thirty-six- 
gun  frigate,  but  you  have  had  opportunities  of  showing  that  you 
are  a  thorough  seaman,  and  can  fight  as  well  as  sail  your  ship." 


350  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"  I  am  immensely  obliged,  sir,"  Nat  said  hesitatingly,  "  but 
I  have  never  for  a  moment  thought  of  this,  and  it  does  seem  a 
tremendous  responsibility.  Besides,  I  shall  be  over  two  officers 
both  many  years  senior  to  myself." 

"  I  have  spoken  to  both  of  them,"  the  admiral  said,  "  and 
pointed  out  to  them  that,  after  you  had  captured  the  frigate 
with  the  little  brigantine  you  commanded,  I  considered  it 
almost  your  right  to  take  her  home.  I  put  it  frankly  to  them 
that,  if  they  had  any  objection  to  serving  under  one  so  much 
their  junior,  I  should  by  no  means  press  the  point,  but  that  at 
the  same  time  I  should  naturally  prefer  having  two  experi- 
enced officers  with  you  instead  of  officering  her  entirely  with 
young  lieutenants  junior  to  yourself.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
both  of  them  agreed  heartily,  and  admitted  the  very  great 
claim  that  you  have  to  the  command.  Mr.  Winton  is  anxious 
to  get  home,  and  knows  that  he  might  have  to  wait  some  time 
before  a  ship  of  war  was  going.  Mr.  Plumber  is  equally 
anxious  for  a  short  run  home,  for,  as  he  frankly  stated  to  me, 
he  has  for  three  years  past  been  engaged  to  be  married,  and 
he  has  some  ground  for  hope  that  he  may  get  appointed  to  a 
ship  on  the  home  station.  So  as  these  gentlemen  are  perfectly 
willing  to  serve  under  you  there  need  be  no  difficulty  on  your 
part  in  the  matter.  We  will  therefore  consider  it  as  settled. 

"  I  have  made  out  your  appointment  as  acting  commander. 
I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  be  confirmed  in  the  rank.  At 
any  rate,  it  will  count  for  you  a  good  deal  that  you  should 
have  acted  in  that  capacity.  Here  are  your  instructions.  You 
will  be  short-handed ;  I  cannot  spare  enough  men  from  the 
ships  on  this  station  to  make  up  a  full  complement.  A  hun- 
dred and  fifty  are  all  that  I  can  possibly  let  you  have,  but  I  have 
told  the  masters  of  these  two  Indiamen  that  they  will  have  to 
furnish  a  contingent.  I  have  been  on  board  both  the  ships 
to-day.  I  addressed  the  crews,  and  said  that  you  were  going 


ANOTHER   ENGAGEMENT  351 

to  take  home  the  Spartane  and  were  short  of  hands.  I  said 
that  I  did  not  wish  to  press  any  men  against  their  will,  but 
that  I  hoped  that  five-and-twenty  from  each  ship  would  come 
forward  voluntarily;  that  number  had  aided  to  bring  the 
Spartane  in  here ;  they  knew  you,  and  might  be  sure  that  the 
ship  would  be  a  comfortable  one  ;  and  I  told  them  that  I  would 
give  them  passes,  saying  that  they  had  voluntarily  shipped 
for  the  voyage  home  on  my  guaranteeing  that  they  should, 
if  they  chose,  be  discharged  from  the  service  on  their  arrival. 
More  than  the  number  required  volunteered  at  once,  but  I 
asked  the  captain  to  pick  out  for  me  the  men  who  had  before 
been  on  board  the  Spartane,  and  of  whose  conduct  you  had 
spoken  highly.  Three  merchantmen  will  sail  under  your 
convoy." 

Nat  went  ashore  after  leaving  the  admiral,  and  naturally 
went  straight  to  the  Duchesnes. 

"  Who  do  you  suppose  is  going  to  command  the  Spartane  ?" 
he  asked  as  he  went  in. 

"  I  know  who  ought  to  command  her.  You  took  her,  and 
you  ought  to  command  her." 

"  Well,  it  seems  absurd,  but  that  is  just  what  I  am  going  to 
do." 

Myra  clapped  her  hands  in  delight. 

"  Have  they  made  you  a  real  captain,  then  ?  " 

"No,"  he  said  with  a  laugh,  "I  shall  be  acting  commander. 
That  gives  one  the  honorary  rank  of  captain,  but  it  may  be  a 
long  time  before  I  get  appointed  to  that  rank.  The  admiral 
has  been  awfully  kind,  but  the  people  at  home  are  not  likely 
to  regard  my  age  and  appearance  as  in  any  way  suitable  for 
such  a  position." 

"I  am  happy  to  say,  Nat,  that  we  shall  sail  under  your 
convoy.  I  have  been  settling  all  my  affairs  and  making  my 
arrangements  for  leaving,  and  have  this  morning  definitely 


352  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

taken  cabins  in  the  Myrtle.  As  the  furniture  is  not  ours,  and 
we  have  not  accumulated  many  belongings,  knowing  that  we 
might  be  sailing  at  any  moment,  we  can  get  everything 
packed  by  to-night  and  go  on  board  to-morrow  morning.  The 
captain  could  not  tell  me  at  what  hour  we  should  sail.  He 
said  that  it  would  depend  upon  the  frigate." 

"  I  should  like  to  start  at  eight  if  I  could,  but  I  cannot  say 
whether  everything  will  be  quite  ready.  However,  you  had 
better  be  on  board  at  that  hour.  It  will  be  jolly  indeed  having 
you  all  so  close  to  me." 

"Shall  we  be  able  to  see  each  other  sometimes?"  Myra 
asked. 

"  Many  times,  I  hope  ;  but  of  course  it  must  depend  partly 
on  the  weather.  If  we  are  becalmed  at  any  time  you  might 
come  on  board  and  spend  a  whole  day,  but  if  we  are  bowling 
along  rapidly  it  would  scarcely  be  the  thing  to  stop  two  ships 
in  order  that  the  passengers  might  go  visiting." 

It  was  twelve  o'clock  on  the  following  day  when  the  Spartane 
fired  a  gun,  and  at  the  signal  the  anchors,  which  had  all  been 
hove  short,  were  run  up,  the  sails  shaken  out,  and  the  Spartane 
and  the  three  vessels  under  her  charge  started  on  their  voyage. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

HOME 


HPHE  voyage  home  was  a  pleasant  but  not  an  exciting  one. 
A  No  suspicious  sails  were  sighted  until  they  neared  the 
mouth  of  the  Channel.  Then  two  or  three  craft,  which  bore 
the  appearance  of  French  privateers,  had  at  different  times 
approached  them,  but  only  to  draw  off  as  soon  as  they  made 


HOME  353 

out  the  line  of  ports  of  the  Spartane.  There  had  been  sufficient 
days  of  calm  and  light  winds  to  enable  the  Duchesnes  to 
frequently  spend  a  few  hours  on  board  the  frigate.  Nat  had 
felt  a  little  uncomfortable  at  first,  but  it  was  not  long  before 
he  became  accustomed  to  the  position.  Of  course  he  could  not 
be  on  the  same  familiar  terms  with  his  officers  as  he  had  been 
on  board  the  Agile,  but  he  insisted  upon  the  first  and  second 
lieutenants  dining  with  him  regularly. 

"  It  will  really  be  kind  of  you  if  you  will,"  he  said,  "  for  I 
shall  feel  like  a  fish  out  of  water  sitting  here  in  solitary  state." 
And  as  he  had  drawn  something  on  account  of  his  prize-money 
and  kept  an  excellent  table,  the  two  officers  wilh'ngly  agreed 
to  the  suggestion. 

"  I  have  always  thought,  Mr.  Winton,"  he  said,  "  that  there 
is  a  good  deal  more  stiffness  than  is  at  all  necessary  or  even 
desirable  on  board  a  ship  of  war.  It  is  not  so  in  the  army.  I 
dined  several  times  at  regimental  messes  at  Kingston,  and 
although  the  colonel  was,  of  course,  treated  with  a  certain 
respect,  the  conversation  was  as  general  and  as  unrestrained 
as  if  all  had  been  private  gentlemen;  yet,  of  course,  on  the 
parade  ground,  the  colonel  was  as  supreme  as  a  captain  on 
his  quarter-deck.  At  sea,  the  captain  really  never  gets  to 
know  anything  about  his  officers,  except  with  regard  to  their 
duties  on  board  a  ship,  and  I  don't  think  it  is  good,  either  for 
him  or  the  officers  in  general,  that  he  should  be  cut  off  from 
them  as  much  as  if  he  were  an  emperor  of  China." 

"  I  agree  with  you  so  far,"  Mr.  Winton  said.  "  I  do  think 
the  reins  of  discipline  are  held  too  tautly,  and  that  where  the 
captain  is  a  really  good  fellow,  life  on  board  might  be  much 
more  pleasant  than  it  now  is ;  but  with  a  bad-tempered,  over- 
bearing sort  of  man  your  suggestion  would  act  just  the  other 
way." 

"  Well,  we  could  easily  put  a  stop  to  that,"  Nat  said,  "  if 

23 


354  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

the  admiralty  would  refuse  to  appoint  bad-tempered  and  over- 
bearing  men  to  any  command." 

The  other  laughed.  "  That  would  help  us  out  of  the  difficulty, 
certainly ;  but  I  think  that  any  change  had  better  be  deferred 
until  they  perceive,  as  every  junior  officer  in  the  service  per- 
ceives, that  such  men  are  a  curse  to  themselves  and  everyone 
else,  that  they  are  hated  by  the  whole  crew,  from  the  ship's 
boys  to  the  first  lieutenant,  and  that  a  ship  with  a  contented 
and  cheerful  crew  can  be  trusted  at  all  times  to  do  her  duty 
against  any  odds." 

Sailing  south  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  Spartanc  came  in 
through  the  Nab  Channel.  There  she  left  her  convoy,  who 
anchored  on  the  Mother  Bank,  while  she  sailed  into  Ports- 
mouth harbour,  with  the  white  ensign  flying  over  the  tricolour. 
As  she  entered  she  was  greeted  with  loud  cheers  by  the  crews 
of  the  ships  of  war.  As  soon  as  she  had  picked  up  moorings 
Nat  landed  at  the  dockyard,  and,  proceeding  to  the  admiral's, 
reported  himself  there. 

"  The  admiral  is  away  inspecting  the  forts  in  the  Needles 
passage,"  a  young  officer  said.  "Captain  Painton  might  be 
able  to  give  you  any  information  that  you  require." 

"  I  only  want  formally  to  report  myself  before  taking  post- 
chaise  to  London." 

"  Perhaps  you  had  better  see  him,"  the  other  said,  a  little 
puzzled  as  to  who  this  young  officer  could  be  who  was  in 
charge  of  despatches. 

"  I  think  I  had." 

"  What  name  shall  I  say?  " 

"  Glover." 

The  flag-captain  was  a  short,  square-built  man,  with  keen 
eyes,  and  a  not  unpleasant  expression,  but  bluff  and  hasty  in 
manner. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Glover,  what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  "  he  asked  shortly. 


HOME  355 

"Well,  sir,  I  hardly  know  the  course  of  procedure,  but  as  I 
want  to  start  with  despatches  for  London  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  able  to  hand  over  the  ship  I  com- 
mand, or,  if  it  cannot  be  taken  over  in  that  summary  way,  to 
know  whether  my  first  officer  is  to  retain  charge  of  her  until 
I  can  return  from  town." 

"  And  what  is  the  vessel  that  you  have  the  honour  to  com- 
mand, sir?"  Captain  Painton  said  with  a  slight  smile. 

"The  Sparlane  frigate,  a  prize  mounting  thirty-six  guns,  that 
entered  the  harbour  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ago." 

The  captain  had  an  idea  that  this  was  an  ill-timed  joke  on 
the  part  of  the  young  lieutenant. 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  understand,  sir,"  he  said  sternly,  "  that 
you  are  in  command  of  that  prize  ?  " 

"That  certainly,  sir,  is  what  I  wish  you  to  understand.  I 
have  brought  her  home  from  Jamaica,  and  have  the  honour  to 
hold  the  appointment  of  acting  commander.  There,  you  see, 
are  the  official  despatches  of  which  I  am  the  bearer,  addressed 
to  the  Admiralty,  and  with  the  words  '  In  charge  of  Acting 
Commander  Glover.' " 

"And  your  officers,  sir?"  suppressing  with  difficulty  an 
explosion  of  wrath  at  what  he  considered  a  fresh  sign  that  the 
service  was  going  to  the  dogs. 

"The  first  officer  is  Lieutenant  Winton,  the  second  Lieu- 
tenant Plumber." 

"  Very  well,  sir,  I  will  go  off  myself  at  once.  I  will  detain 
you  no  longer." 

Nat  at  once  hurried  off,  while  Captain  Painton  went  into 
the  office  of  another  of  the  officials  of  the  dockyard. 

"The  service  is  going  to  the  dogs,"  he  said.  "Here  is  a 
young  lieutenant,  who  from  his  appearance  can't  have  passed 
more  than  a  year,  pitchforked  over  the  head  of  heaven  knows 
how  many  seniors,  and  placed  as  acting  commander  of  a  thirty- 


356 


A   ROVING   COMMISSION 


six-gun  frigate,  French  prize,  sir.     Just  look  up  the  records  of 
the  lieutenants  under  him." 

"  One  is  a  lieutenant  of  fifteen  years'  service,  the  other  of 
twelve." 

"  It  is  monstrous,  scandalous.  This  sort  of  thing  is  destruc- 
tive of  all  discipline,  and  proves  that  everything  is  to  go  by 
favouritism.  Just  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  it  is  enough  to 
throw  cold  water  on  the  spirits  of  all  who  are  hoping  to  dis- 
tinguish themselves." 

Ignorant  of  the  storm  that  had  been  excited  in  the  mind 
of  the  flag-captain,  Nat  was  already  on  his  way,  having  as  soon 
as  he  landed  sent  his  coxswain  to  order  a  post-chaise  to  be  got 
ready  for  starting  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  It  was  eight  o'clock 
when  he  dropped  anchor,  by  nine  he  was  on  the  road,  and  by 
handsomely  tipping  the  post-boys  he  drew  up  at  the  Admiralty 
at  half-past  four. 

"  What  name  shall  I  say,  sir  ?  "  the  doorkeeper  asked. 

"Acting  Commander  Glover,  with  despatches  from  Jamaica." 

The  admiral  looked  up  with  amazement  as  Nat  was  an- 
nounced. The  latter  had  not  mounted  the  second  epaulette 
to  which  as  commander  he  was  entitled,  and  the  admiral  on 
his  first  glance  thought  that  the  attendant  must  have  made  a 
mistake. 

"  Did  I  understand,  sir,  that  you  are  a  commander  ? " 

"  An  acting  one  only,  sir.  I  have  come  home  in  command 
of  the  Spartane,  a  prize  mounting  thirty-six  guns.  The 
admiral  was  good  enough  to  appoint  me  to  the  acting  rank  in 
order  that  I  might  bring  her  home  with  despatches,  and  the 
report  respecting  her  capture  by  the  brigantine  Agile,  of  ten 
guns,  which  I  had  the  honour  to  command." 

"Yes,  I  saw  a  very  brief  notice  of  her  capture  in  the 
Gazette  ten  days  ago,  but  no  particulars  were  given.  I  suppose 
the  mail  was  just  coming  out  when  she  arrived." 


HOME  857 

"  That  was  partly  the  reason,  no  doubt,  sir ;  but  I  think  the 
admiral  could  have  written  more,  had  he  not  in  his  kindness 
of  heart  left  it  to  me  to  hand  in  a  full  report.  I  may  say 
that  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  recapture  two  valuable  West 
Indiamen  that  the  Spartane  had  picked  up  on  her  way  out" 

The  admiral  rose  from  the  table  and  took  down  a  thick 
volume  from  the  book-case.  At  the  back  were  the  words, 
"  Records  of  Service."  It  was  partly  printed,  a  wide  space 
being  left  under  each  name  for  further  records  to  be  writ- 
ten in. 

"  Glover,  Nathaniel.  Is  that  your  Christian  name,  Captain 
Glover?" 

Nat  bowed. 

"An  exceptionally  good  record.  'Distinguished  himself 
greatly  in  the  attack  by  the  frigate  Orpheus  on  three  piratical 
craft  protected  by  strong  batteries.  Passed  as  lieutenant 
shortly  afterwards.  Appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
schooner  Arrow,  four  guns,  charged  to  rescue  white  inhabitants 
off  Hayti,  and  if  possible  to  enter  into  communications  with 
negro  leaders  and  learn  their  views.  In  the  course  of  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty  he  landed  with  all  his  crew  of  twenty  men, 
took  off  a  French  planter  and  family  and  eight  other  whites 
in  the  hands  of  a  force  estimated  at  three  hundred  and  fifty 
blacks,  and  fought  his  way  on  board  his  ship  again.  Later  on 
engaged  a  pirate  brigantine,  the  Agile,  of  ten  guns,  which  had 
just  captured  a  Spanish  merchantman.  After  a  sharp  fight, 
took  possession  of  the  prize,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  crew 
capture  the  Agile?  And  now  with  the  Agile  you  have  taken 
the  Spartane,  a  thirty-six  gun  frigate,  to  say  nothing  of  re- 
capturing two  valuable  West  Indiamen,  prizes  of  hers.  And 
I  suppose,  Commander  Glover,  if  we  confirm  you  in  your  rank 
and  command,  you  will  go  forth  and  appear  next  time  with 
a  French  three-decker  in  tow.  From  a  tiny  schooner  to  a 


358  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

frigate  is  a  greater  distance  than  from  a  frigate  to  a  line-of- 
battle  ship." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  Nat  said  with  a  smile ;  "  but  the  advantage  of 
quick  manoeuvring  that  one  gets  in  a  small  craft,  and  which 
gives  one  a  chance  against  a  larger  adversary,  becomes  lost 
when  it  is  a  frigate  against  a  line-of-battle  ship.  The  Spartane 
is  fairly  handy,  but  she  could  not  hope  to  gain  much  advantage 
that  way  over  a  bigger  vessel." 

"  I  wonder  the  admiral  had  men  enough  to  spare  to  send  her 
home." 

"  He  could  hardly  have  done  so,  sir,  but  fifty  of  the  mer- 
chant sailors  belonging  to  the  recaptured  prizes  volunteered 
for  the  voyage,  and  were  furnished  by  the  admiral  with  dis- 
charges on  arrival  at  Portsmouth." 

"  A  very  good  plan,  for  it  is  hard  work  to  get  men  now  that 
we  are  fitting  out  every  ship  at  all  the  naval  ports.  Now, 
Commander  Glover,  I  will  detain  you  no  longer.  I  shall  care- 
fully read  through  these  despatches  this  evening,  and  shall 
discuss  them  with  my  colleagues  to-morrow.  I  shall  be  glad 
if  you  will  dine  with  me  to-morrow  evening  at  half-past  six ; 
here  is  my  card  and  address." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but  I  am  altogether  ignorant  of 
such  matters  —  should  I  come  in  uniform  or  plain  clothes?" 

"  Whichever  would  suit  you  best,"  the  admiral  replied  with  a 
smile.  "As  you  have  only  just  arrived  to-day  from  the  West 
Indies,  and  doubtless  have  had  little  time  for  preparations 
before  you  sailed,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  you  may  not 
have  had  time  to  provide  yourself  with  a  full-dress  uniform." 

"  I  have  not,  sir ;  and  indeed,  had  I  had  time  I  should  not 
have  thought  of  buying  one  of  my  acting  rank,  which  would 
naturally  terminate  as  soon  as  the  object  for  which  it  was 
granted  was  attained." 

"Very  well,   then,  come  in  plain  dress.     I  may  tell  you 


HOME  359 

for  your  information,  that  when  invited  by  an  admiral  to 
his  official  residence  you  would  be  expected  to  appear  in 
uniform,  but  when  asked  to  dine  at  his  private  residence  it 
would  not  be  considered  as  a  naval  function,  and  although  I 
do  not  at  all  say  that  it  would  be  wrong  to  appear  in  uniform, 
there  would  be  no  necessity  for  doing  so." 

As  everyone  dressed  for  dinner  in  the  West  Indies  for  the 
sake  of  coolness  and  comfort,  Nat  was  well  provided  in  this 
way.  After  his  dinner  at  the  Golden  Cross  he  went  to  a  play- 
house. He  had  posted  a  letter  to  his  father,  which  was  written 
before  he  landed,  directly  he  reached  town,  saying  that  he 
was  home  ;  that  of  course  he  could  not  say  how  long  it  would 
be  before  he  would  be  able  to  leave  his  ship,  but  as  soon  as  he 
did  so  he  would  run  down  into  Somersetshire  and  stay  there 
until  he  received  orders  either  to  join  another  vessel  or  to 
return  to  the  West  Indies.  The  next  afternoon  the  papers 
came  out  with  the  official  news,  and  news-boys  were  shouting 
themselves  hoarse : 

"  Capture  of  a  French  frigate  by  a  ten-gun  British  brig  ! 
Thirty-six  guns  against  ten  !  Three  hundred  and  fifty  French- 
men against  fifty  Englishmen !  Nearly  half  the  monsieurs  killed 
or  wounded,  the  rest  taken  prisoners !  Glorious  victory  ! " 
And  Nat  was  greatly  amused  as  he  looked  out  of  the  window 
of  the  hotel  at  the  eager  hustling  that  was  going  on  to  obtain 
one  of  the  broadsheets. 

"  It  sounds  a  big  thing,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  but  there  was 
nothing  in  it,  and  the  whole  thing  was  over  in  less  time  than 
it  takes  to  talk  about  it.  Well,  I  hope  I  shall  either  get 
off  to  Portsmouth  again  to-inorrow  or  go  down  to  the  dear 
old  pater.  I  wish  this  dinner  was  over.  No  doubt  there  will 
be  some  more  of  these  old  admirals  there,  and  they  will  be 
wanting  to  learn  all  the  ins  and  outs,  just  as  if  twenty  words 
would  not  tell  them  how  it  was  we  thrashed  them  so  easily. 


860  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

They  know  well  enough  that  if  you  have  a  quick  handy  craft, 
and  get  her  under  the  weather  quarter  of  a  slow-moving  frigate 
the  latter  has  n't  a  shadow  of  a  chance." 

Although  not  an  official  dinner,  all  the  twelve  gentlemen  who 
sat  down  were,  with  the  exception  of  Nat,  connected  with  the 
admiralty.  The  first  lord  and  several  other  admirals  were 
there,  the  others  were  heads  of  departments  and  post-captains. 

"  Before  we  begin  dinner,"  the  first  lord  said,  "  I  have 
pleasure  in  handing  this  to  you,  Commander  Glover.  There 
is  but  one  opinion  among  my  colleagues  and  myself,  which  is 
that  as  you  have  captured  the  Spartane  and  have  come  home 
as  her  commander,  we  cannot  do  less  than  confirm  you  in 
that  rank  and  leave  her  in  your  charge.  You  are  certainly 
unusually  young  for  such  promotion,  but  your  career  has  been 
for  the  past  four  years  so  exceptional  that  we  seem  to  have 
scarcely  any  option  in  the  matter.  Such  promotion  is  not 
only  a  reward  you  have  gallantly  won,  but  that  you  should 
receive  it  will,  we  feel,  animate  other  young  officers  to  whole- 
some emulation  that  will  be  advantageous  both  to  themselves 
and  to  the  service  in  general." 

Nat  could  scarcely  credit  his  ears.  That  he  might  be 
appointed  second  lieutenant  of  the  Spartane  or  some  other 
ship  of  war  was,  he  thought,  probable ;  but  the  acme  of  his 
hopes  was  that  a  first  lieutenancy  in  a  smart  sloop  might 
possibly  be  offered  to  him.  His  two  officers  on  the  way 
home  had  talked  the  matter  over  with  him,  and  they  had 
been  a  little  amused  at  seeing  that  he  never  appeared  to  think 
it  within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  his  rank  would  be 
confirmed,  although,  as  the  admiral  before  sailing  told  them, 
he  had  most  strongly  recommended  that  this  should  be  done, 
and  he  thought  it  certain  that  the  authorities  at  home  would 
see  the  matter  in  the  same  light.  He  had  asked  them  not 
to  give  the  slightest  hint  to  Nat  that  such  promotion  might 


HOME  361 

be  awarded  to  him.  "You  never  can  tell,"  the  admiral 
said,  "  what  the  Admiralty  will  do,  but  here  is  a  chance  that 
they  don't  often  get  of  making  a  really  popular  promotion, 
without  a  suspicion  of  favouritism  being  entertained.  Beyond 
the  fact  that  he  has  been  mentioned  in  despatches,  I  doubt  if 
anyone  at  Whitehall  as  much  as  knows  the  young  fellow's 
name,  and  the  service  generally  will  see  that  for  once  merit 
has  been  recognized  on  the  part  of  one  who,  so  far  as  patronage 
goes,  is  friendless." 

Nat  returned  to  Portsmouth  the  following  morning,  and 
spent  some  hours  in  signing  papers  and  going  through  other 
formalities. 

"  The  Spartane  will  be  paid  off  to-morrow,  Captain  Glover," 
the  port  admiral  said;  "she  will  be  recommissioned  im- 
mediately. I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  get  some  of  the  men 
to  re-enter,  for  there  is  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  about  crews. 
So  great  a  number  of  ships  have  been  fitted  out  during  the 
past  four  or  five  months  that  we  have  pretty  well  exhausted 
the  seafaring  population  here,  and  even  the  press-gangs  fail 
to  bring  many  in." 

Going  on  board,  Nat  sent  for  the  boatswain  'and  gunners, 
and  informed  them  that  as  he  was  to  recommission  the  Spartane 
he  was  anxious  to  get  as  many  of  the  hands  to  reship  as 
possible. 

"I  have  no  doubt  that  some  of  them  will  join,  sir,"  the 
quarter-master  said.  "  I  heard  them  talking  among  them- 
selves, and  saying  that  she  has  been  as  pleasant  a  ship  as  they 
had  ever  sailed  in,  and  if  you  was  to  hoist  your  pennant  a  good 
many  of  them  would  sign  on." 

"  I  would  not  mind  giving  a  couple  of  pounds  a  head." 

"  I  don't  think  that  it  would  be  of  any  use,  sir.  If  the  men 
will  join  they  will  join,  if  they  won't  they  won't.  Besides, 
they  have  all  got  some  pay,  and  most  of  them  some  prize- 


362  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

money  coming  to  them,  and  it  would  be  only  so  much  more  to 
chuck  away  if  they  had  it.  And  another  thing,  sir,  I  think 
when  men  like  an  officer  they  like  to  show  him  that  it  is  so, 
and  they  would  rather  reship  without  any  bounty,  to  show  that 
they  liked  him,  than  have  it  supposed  that  it  was  for  the  sake 
of  the  money." 

After  the  men  had  been  paid  off  the  next  morning,  he  told 
them  in  a  short  speech  that  he  had  been  appointed  to  recom- 
mission  the  Spartane,  and  said  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have 
a  good  many  of  them  with  him  again.  He  was  much  gratified 
when  fully  two-thirds  of  the  men,  including  the  greater  part 
of  the  merchantmen,  stepped  forward  and  entered  their  names. 

"  That  speaks  well  indeed  for  our  young  commander,"  the 
port  admiral,  who  had  been  present,  said  to  his  flag-captain. 
"It  is  seldom  indeed  that  you  find  anything  like  so  large  a 
proportion  of  men  ready  to  reship  at  once.  It  proves  that 
they  have  confidence  in  his  skill  as  well  as  in  his  courage,  and 
that  they  feel  that  the  ship  will  be  a  comfortable  one." 

It  was  expected  that  the  Spartane  would  be  at  least  a  month 
in  the  hands  of  the  shipwrights,  and  the  men  on  signing  were 
given  leave  of  absence  for  that  time.  As  soon  as  all  this  was 
arranged,  Nat  took  a  post-chaise  and  drove  to  Southampton. 
There  he  found  the  Duchesnes  at  an  hotel.  Their  ship  had 
gone  into  the  port  two  days  previously,  but  all  their  belongings 
were  not  yet  out  of  the  hold,  and  indeed  it  had  been  arranged 
that  they  would  not  go  up  to  town  till  they  saw  him.  They 
were  delighted  to  hear  that  his  appointment  had  been  con- 
firmed, and  that  he  was  to  have  the  command  of  the  Spartane. 

"  Now,  I  suppose  you  will  be  running  down  to  see  your 
people  at  once?"  Myra  said  with  a  little  pout 

"I  think  that  is  only  fair,"  he  said,  "considering  that 
I  have  not  seen  them  for  six  years.  I  don't  think  that  even 
you  could  grudge  me  a  few  days." 


HOME  368 

"  Yeovil  is  a  large  place,  is  n't  it?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes  ;  why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

She  looked  at  her  mother,  who  smiled. 

"  The  fact  is,  Nat,  Myra  has  been  endeavouring  to  persuade 
her  father  and  me  that  it  would  be  a  nice  pkn  for  us  to  go 
down  there  with  you  and  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  your 
parents.  Of  course  we  should  stay  at  an  hotel.  We  are  in 
no  particular  hurry  to  go  up  to  London  ;  and  as  while  you  are 
away  we  shall  naturally  wish  to  see  as  much  as  we  can  of  your 
people,  this  would  make  a  very  good  beginning.  And  perhaps 
some  of  them  will  come  back  to  London  with  us  when  you 
join  your  ship." 

"I  think  it  would  be  a  first-rate  plan,  madame,  the  best 
thing  possible.  Of  course  I  want  my  father  and  mother  and 
the  girls  to  see  Myra." 

"When  will  you  start?" 

"  To-morrow  morning.  Of  course  we  shall  go  by  post.  It 
will  be  a  very  cross-country  journey  by  coach,  and  many  of 
these  country  roads  are  desperately  bad.  It  is  only  about 
the  same  distance  that  it  is  to  London,  but  the  roads  are  not 
so  good,  so  I  propose  that  we  make  a  short  journey  to-morrow 
to  Salisbury,  and  then,  starting  early,  go  through  to  Yeovil. 
We  shall  be  there  in  good  time  in  the  afternoon.  I  shall 
only  be  taking  a  very  small  amount  of  kit,  so  that  we  ought 
to  be  able  to  stow  three  large  trunks,  which  will,  I  suppose, 
be  enough  for  you.  Of  course  we  could  send  some  on  by  a 
waggon,  but  there  is  no  saying  when  they  would  get  there, 
and  as  likely  as  not  they  would  not  arrive  until  just  as  we 
are  leaving  there ;  of  course  Dinah  will  go  on  the  box." 

At  four  o'clock,  two  days  later,  the  post-chaise  drove  up 
to  the  principal  hotel  at  Yeovil.  Rooms  were  at  once  obtained 
for  the  Duchesnes,  and  Nat  hired  a  light  trap  to  drive  him  out 
to  his  father's  rectory,  some  three  miles  out  of  the  town.  As 


364  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

he  drove  up  to  the  house,  three  girls,'  from  sixteen  to  t\vo- 
and  three-and-twenty,  ran  out,  followed  a  moment  later  by  his 
father  and  mother.  For  a  few  minutes  there  was  but  little 
coherent  talk.  His  sisters  could  scarcely  believe  that  this  tall 
young  officer  was  the  lad  they  had  last  seen,  and  even  his 
father  and  mother  agreed  that  they  would  scarce  have  recog- 
nized him. 

"  I  don't  think  the  girls  quite  recognize  me  now,"  he 
laughed.  "  They  kissed  me  in  a  very  feeble  sort  of  way,  as  if 
they  were  not  at  all  sure  that  it  was  quite  right.  Indeed,  I 
was  not  quite  sure  myself  that  it  was  the  proper  thing  for  me 
to  salute  three  strange  young  ladies." 

"  What  nonsense  you  talk,  Nat,"  his  eldest  sister  Mary  said. 
"  I  thought  by  this  time,  now  you  are  a  lieutenant,  you  would 
have  become  quite  stiff,  and  would  expect  a  good  deal  of 
deference  to  be  paid  to  you." 

"  I  can't  say  that  you  have  been  a  good  correspondent,  Nat," 
his  mother  said.  "  You  wrote  very  seldom,  and  then  said  very 
little  of  what  you  had  been  doing." 

"Well,  mother,  there  are  not  many  post-offices  in  Hayti, 
and  I  should  not  have  cared  to  trust  any  letters  to  them 
if  there  had  been.  There  is  the  advantage,  you  see,  that 
there  is  much  more  to  tell  you  now  than  if  I  had  written  to 
you  before.  You  don't  get  papers  very  regularly  here,  I 
think?" 

"  No,  we  seldom  see  a  London  paper,  and  the  Bath  papers 
don't  tell  much  about  anything  except  the  fashionable  doings 
there." 

"  Then  I  have  several  pieces  of  news  to  tell  you.  Here  is  a 
Gazette,  in  which  you  will  see  that  a  certain  Nathaniel  Glover 
brought  into  Portsmouth  last  week  a  French  thirty-six-gun 
frigate  which  he  had  captured,  and  in  another  part  of  the 
Gazette  you  will  observe  that  the  same  officer  has  been  con- 


HOME  865 

firmed  in  the  acting  rank  of  commander,  and  has  been  appointed 
to  the  Spartane,  which  is  to  be  recommissioned  at  once.  There- 
fore you  see,  sisters,  you  will  in  future  address  me  as  captain." 

There  was  a  general  exclamation  of  surprise  and  delight. 

"  That  is  what  it  was,"  the  rector  said,  "  that  Dr.  Miles  was 
talking  to  me  about  yesterday  in  Yeovil.  He  said  that  the 
London  papers  were  full  of  the  news  that  a  French  frigate 
had  been  captured  by  a  little  ten-gun  brigantine,  and  had  been 
brought  home  by  the  officer  who  had  taken  her,  who  was,  he 
said,  of  the  same  name  as  mine.  He  said  that  it  was  considered 
an  extraordinarily  gallant  action." 

"We  shall  be  as  proud  as  peacocks,"  Lucy,  the  youngest 
girl,  said. 

"  Now  as  to  my  news,"  he  went  on.  <l  Doubtless  that  was 
important,  but  not  so  important  as  that  which  I  am  now 
going  to  tell  you.  At  the  present  moment  there  is  at  Yeovil 
a  gentleman  and  lady,  together  with  their  daughter,  the  said 
daughter  being,  at  the  end  of  a  reasonable  time,  about  to 
become  my  wife,  and  your  sister,  girls." 

The  news  was  received  with  speechless  surprise. 

"  Really,  Nat?  "  his  mother  said  in  a  tone  of  doubt ;  "  do  you 
actually  mean  that  you  have  become  engaged  to  a  young  lady 
who  is  now  at  Yeovil  ?  " 

"  That  is  the  case,  mother,"  he  said  cheerfully.  "  There  is 
nothing  very  surprising  that  a  young  lady  should  fall  in  love 
with  me,  is  there?  and  I  think  the  announcement  will  look 
well  in  the  papers  —  on  such  and  such  a  date,  Myra,  daughter 
of  Monsieur  Duchesne,  late  of  the  island  of  Hayti,  to  Nathaniel, 
son  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Glover  of  Arkton  Rectory,  commander 
in  his  majesty's  navy." 

"  Duchesne  ! "  Ada,  the  second  girl,  said,  clapping  her  hands, 
"  that  is  the  name  of  the  young  lady  you  rescued  from  a  dog. 
I  remember  at  the  time  Mary  and  I  quite  agreed  that  the 


366  A  ROVING   COMMISSION 

proper  thing  for  you  to  do  would  be  to  marry  her  some  day. 
Yes,  and  you  were  staying  at  her  father's  place  when  the  blacks 
broke  out;  and  you  had  all  to  hide  in  the  woods  for  some 
time." 

"Quite  right,  Ada.  Well,  she  and  her  father  and  mother 
have  posted  down  with  me  from  Southampton  in  order  to  make 
your  acquaintance,  and  to-morrow  you  will  have  to  go  over  in 
a  body." 

"Does  she  speak  English?"  Mrs.  Glover  asked. 

"  Oh,  yes,  she  speaks  a  good  deal  of  English ;  her  people  have 
for  the  past  two  years  intended  to  settle  in  England,  and  have 
all  been  studying  the  language  to  a  certain  extent.  Besides 
that,  they  have  had  the  inestimable  advantage  of  my  conversa- 
tion, and  have  read  a  great  many  English  books  on  their  voyage 
home." 

"  Is  Miss  Duchesne  very  dark  ? "  Lucy  asked  in  a  tone  of 
anxiety. 

Nat  looked  at  her  for  a  moment  in  surprise,  and  then  burst 
into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"  What,  Lucy,  do  you  think  because  Myra  was  born  in  Hayti 
that  she  is  a  little  negress  with  crinkley  wool  ?  " 

"  No,  no,"  the  girl  protested  almost  tearfully.  "  Of  course 
I  did  not  think  that,  but  I  thought  that  she  might  be  dark. 
I  am  sure  when  I  was  at  Bath  last  season  and  saw  several  old 
gentlemen,  who,  they  said,  were  rich  West  Indians,  they  were 
all  as  yellow  as  guineas." 

"Well,  she  won't  be  quite  so  dark  as  that,  anyhow,"  Nat 
said ;  "  in  fact  I  can  tell  you,  you  three  will  all  have  to  look 
your  best  to  make  a  good  show  by  the  side  of  her." 

"  But  this  talk  is  all  nonsense,  Nat,"  the  rector  said  gravely. 
"  Your  engagement  is  a  very  serious  matter.  Of  course,  now 
you  have  been  so  wonderfully  fortunate,  and  are  commander  of 
a  ship,  you  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  have  an  income  quite  sufficient 


HOME  $67 

to  marry  upon,  and,  of  course,  you  are  in  a  position  to  please 
yourself." 

"  We  are  not  going  to  be  married  just  at  present,  father. 
She  is  three  years  younger  than  I  am,  and  I  am  not  far  ad- 
vanced in  years;  so  it  has  been  quite  settled  that  we  shall 
wait  for  some  time  yet.  By  then,  if  I  am  lucky,  my  prize- 
money  will  have  swelled  to  a  handsome  amount,  and  indeed, 
although  I  don't  know  the  exact  particulars,  I  believe  I  am 
entitled  to  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  pounds.  Moreover 
as  the  young  lady  herself  is  an  only  child,  and  her  father  is 
a  very  wealthy  man,  I  fancy  that  we  are  not  likely  to  have  to 
send  round  the  hat  to  make  ends  meet." 

The  visit  was  duly  paid  the  next  day,  and  was  most  satis- 
factory to  all  parties,  and,  as  the  rectory  was  a  large  building, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glover  insisted  upon  the  Duchesnes  removing 
there  at  once. 

"  We  want  to  see  as  much  of  Nat  as  we  can,"  his  mother 
urged,  "and  if  he  is  to  divide  his  time  between  Yeovil  and 
the  rectory,  I  am  afraid  we  should  get  but  a  very  small  share 
of  him." 

"I  suppose  your  brother  has  told  you  all  his  adventures," 
Myra  said  the  next  morning,  as  she  and  all  the  party,  with  the 
exception  of  Mr.  Glover  and  Nat,  were  seated  in  the  parlour 
after  breakfast  was  over. 

"  No,  he  is  a  very  poor  correspondent.  He  just  told  us  what 
he  had  been  doing,  but  said  very  little  about  his  adventures. 
I  suppose  he  thought  that  girls  would  not  care  to  hear  about 
midshipmen's  doings.  He  did  tell  us,  though,  that  he  had  had 
a  fight  with  a  dog  that  had  bitten  you." 

Myra's  eyes  opened  wider  and  wider  as  the  eldest,  Mary 
Glover,  spoke.  Her  face  flushed,  and  she  would  have  risen  to 
her  feet  in  her  indignation  had  not  her  mother  laid  her  hand 
upon  her  arm. 


368  A   ROVING  COMMISSION 

"I  do  not  think,  Miss  Glover,"  Monsieur  Duchesne  said 
gravely,  "  that  you  can  at  all  understand  the  obligation  that 
we  are  under  to  your  brother.  The  bite  of  a  dog  seems  but 
a  little  thing.  A  huge  hound  had  thrown  Myra  down,  and 
had  rescue  been  delayed  but  half  a  minute  her  death  was  certain. 
Your  brother,  riding  past,  heard  her  cries,  and  rushed  in,  and, 
armed  only  with  his  dirk,  attacked  the  hound.  He  saved  my 
daughter's  life,  but  it  was  well-nigh  at  the  cost  of  his  own,  for 
although  he  killed  it,  it  was  not  until  it  had  inflicted  terrible 
injuries  upon  him  —  injuries  so  serious  that  for  a  time  it  was 
doubtful  whether  he  would  live.  This  was  the  first  service  to 
us.  On  the  next  occasion  he  was  staying  with  us  when  the 
blacks  rose.  Thanks  to  our  old  nurse,  there  was  time  for  them 
to  run  out  into  the  shrubbery  before  the  negroes  came  up, 
and  then  take  refuge  in  the  wood.  My  wife  was  seized  with 
fever,  and  was  for  days  unconscious. 

"The  woods  were  everywhere  scoured  for  fugitives.  Six 
blacks,  led  by  two  mulattoes,  discovered  their  hiding-place. 
Your  son  shot  the  whole  of  them,  but  had  one  of  his  ribs 
broken  by  a  pistol-ball.  In  spite  of  that,  he  and  Dinah 
carried  my  wife  some  thirty  miles  down  to  the  town  across 
rough  ground,  where  every  step  must  have  been  torture  to 
him,  and  brought  her  and  Myra  safely  to  me.  Equal  services 
he  performed  another  time  to  a  family,  intimate  friends  of  ours, 
composed  of  a  gentleman  and  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  who, 
with  six  white  men,  were  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  blacks, 
and  would  assuredly  have  suffered  deaths  of  agonizing  torture. 
Though  he  had  but  twenty  men  with  him,  he  landed  them  all, 
marched  them  up  to  the  place,  rescued  the  whole  party,  and 
made  his  way  down  to  his  boat  again  through  three  hundred 
and  fifty  maddened  blacks.  No  less  great  was  the  service  he 
rendered  when  he  rescued  some  fifteen  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  had  been  captured  by  a  pirate,  and  whose  fate,  had  he  not 


HOME  369 

arrived,  would  have  been  too  horrible  to  think  of.  As  to  his 
services  at  sea,  the  official  reports  have  testified,  and  his  un- 
heard-of promotion  shows  the  appreciation  of  the  authorities. 
Never  were  more  gallant  deeds  done  by  the  most  valiant  naval 
captains  who  have  ever  lived." 

Myra  had  held  her  father's  hand  while  he  was  speaking; 
her  breath  had  come  fast,  and  her  eyes  were  full  of  tears. 

"  Thank  you,  Monsieur  Duchesne,"  Mrs.  Glover  said,  gently ; 
"  please  remember  that  all  this  is  quite  new  to  us.  Now  that 
we  know  something  of  the  truth,  we  shall  feel  as  proud  of  our 
boy  as  your  daughter  has  a  right  to  be." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mrs.  Glover,"  Myra  said,  walking  across  to  her, 
and  kissing  her,  "  but  when  it  seemed  to  me  that  these  glorious 
deeds  Nat  has  achieved  were  regarded  as  the  mere  adventures 
of  a  midshipman,  I  felt  that  I  must  speak." 

"  It  is  quite  natural  that  you  should  do  so,"  Mrs.  Glover 
said;  "for,  if  fault  there  is,  it  rests  with  Nat,  who  always 
spoke  of  his  own  adventures  in  a  jesting  sort  of  way,  and  gave 
us  no  idea  that  they  were  anything  out  of  the  common." 

"They  were  out  of  the  common,  madame,"  Myra  said; 
"  why,  when  he  came  into  Port  Royal,  with  the  great  frigate 
in  tow  of  his  little  brigantine,  and  two  huge  merchantmen  he 
had  recaptured  from  her,  the  admiral's  ship  and  all  the  vessels 
of  war  in  the  harbour  saluted  him.  I  almost  cried  my  eyes 
out  with  pride  and  happiness." 

"  Myra  does  not  exaggerate,"  her  mother  said ;  "  your  son's 
exploits  were  the  talk  of  Jamaica,  and  even  the  capture  of  the 
French  frigate  was  less  extraordinary  than  the  way  in  which, 
with  a  little  craft  of  four  guns,  he  captured  a  pirate  which 
carried  ten,  and  a  crew  four  times  as  numerous  as  his  own." 

"I  hope  you  will  tell  us  in  full  about  all  these  things, 
Madame  Duchesne,"  Mrs.  Glover  said,  "  for  I  fear  that  we  shall 
never  get  a  full  account  from  Nat  himself." 

24 


370  A  ROVING  COMMISSION 

Myra  went  across  to  Mary. 

"  You  are  not  angry  with  me,  I  hope,"  she  said ;  "  we  are 
hot-tempered,  we  West  Indians.  When  it  seemed  that  you 
were  speaking  slightingly  of  the  action  to  which  I  owe  my  life, 
I  don't  know  what  I  should  have  said  if  my  father  had  not 
stopped  me." 

"  I  am  not  in  the  slightest  degree  angry,"  Mary  said ;  "  or, 
rather,  if  I  am  angry  at  all  it  is  with  Nat.  It  is  too  bad  of 
him  keeping  all  this  to  himself.  You  see,  he  was  quite  a  boy 
when  he  left  us,  and  he  used  to  tell  us  funny  stories  about  the 
pranks  that  the  midshipmen  played.  Although  we  felt  very 
proud  of  him  when  he  told  us  that  he  had  gained  the  rank 
of  commander,  we  did  not  really  know  anything  about  sea 
matters,  and  could  not  appreciate  the  fact  that  he  must  have 
done  something  altogether  out  of  the  way  to  obtain  that  rank. 
But,  of  course,  we  like  you  all  the  better  for  standing  up  for 
him.  I  am  sure  that  in  future  we  girls  shall  be  just  as  angry 
as  you  were  if  anyone  says  anything  that  sounds  like  running 
him  down." 

The  time  passed  rapidly,  and,  as  the  girls  were  never  tired 
of  listening  to  the  tales  of  Nat's  exploits,  and  Myra  was  never 
tired  of  relating  them,  Nat  would  have  come  in  for  any  amount 
of  hero-worship  had  he  not  promptly  suppressed  the  slightest 
exhibition  in  that  direction. 

It  was  but  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  in  England  that 
Monsieur  Duchesne  learned  by  a  letter  from  a  friend,  who  was 
one  of  the  few  who  escaped  from  the  terrible  scene,  that  their 
fears  had  been  justified,  and  that  Cape  Francois,  the  beautiful 
capital  of  Hayti,  had  ceased  to  exist.  Santhonax  and  Poveren 
had  established  a  reign  of  terror,  plunder,  and  oppression,  until 
the  white  inhabitants  were  reduced  to  the  most  terrible  state 
of  suffering.  The  misery  caused  by  these  white  monsters 
was  as  great  as  that  which  prevailed  in  France.  At  last 


HOME  371 

General  Galbaud  arrived,  having  been  sent  out  to  prepare 
for  the  defence  of  the  colony  against  an  attack  by  the  British. 
The  two  commissioners,  however,  refused  to  recognize  his 
authority.  Not  only  this,  but  they  imperatively  ordered  him 
te  re-embark,  and  return  to  France.  Each  party  then  prepared 
for  fighting.  The  commissioners  had  with  them  the  regular 
troops,  and  a  large  body  of  blacks.  The  governor  had  twelve 
hundred  sailors,  and  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  city,  who  had 
formed  themselves  into  a  body  of  volunteers. 

The  fighting  was  hard ;  the  volunteers  showed  the  greatest 
bravery,  and,  had  they  been  well  supported  by  the  sailors, 
would  have  gained  the  day.  The  seamen,  however,  speedily 
broke  into  the  warehouses,  intoxicated  themselves  with  rum, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  their  officers  could  bring  them 
back  into  the  arsenal.  The  commissioners  had,  the  night 
before,  sent  to  a  negro  chief,  offering  pardon  for  all  past 
offences,  perfect  freedom,  and  the  plunder  of  the  city.  He 
arrived  at  noon  on  the  zist  of  June,  and  at  once  began  the 
butchery  of  the  white  inhabitants.  This  continued  till  the 
evening  of  the  23rd,  by  which  time  the  whole  of  the  whites 
had  been  murdered,  the  city  sacked,  and  then  burned  to  the 
ground. 

Before  Nat  sailed  in  the  Spartane,  the  Duchesnes  had  taken 
a  house  at  Torquay.  Here  the  climate  would  be  better  suited 
to  madame,  the  summer  temperature  being  less  exhausting 
and  the  winter  so  free  from  extremes  that  she  might  reason- 
ably hope  not  to  feel  the  change. 

For  five  years  Nat  commanded  the  Spartane.  If  he  did  not 
meet  with  the  exceptional  good  fortune  that  he  had  found  in 
the  West  Indies,  he  had,  at  least,  nothing  to  complain  of.  He 
picked  up  many  prizes,  took  part  in  several  gallant  cutting-out 
adventures,  and  captured  the  French  frigate  Euterpe,  of  forty- 
six  guns.  For  full  details  of  these  and  other  actions  a  search 


372  A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

must  be  made  in  the  official  records  of  the  British  navy,  where 
they  are  fully  set  forth.  After  a  long  and  hard-fought  battle, 
for  which  action  he  received  post  rank,  he  retired  from  the 
service,  and  settled  down  with  Myra  near  Plymouth,  where  he 
was  within  easy  reach  of  his  own  relations. 

As  soon  as  he  was  established  there,  her  father  and  mother 
took  a  house  within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  his  home.  He 
congratulated  himself  that  he  had  not  remained  in  the  West 
Indies,  for  had  he  done  so  he  would,  like  all  the  naval  and 
military  forces  in  the  islands,  have  taken  part  in  the  disastrous 
attempt  to  obtain  possession  of  the  island  of  San  Domingo. 
The  Spaniards  had  ceded  their  portion  to  the  French,  and 
although  the  whites,  mulattoes,  and  blacks  were  at  war  with 
each  other,  they  were  all  ready  to  join  forces  against  the 
British.  The  attempt  to  conquer  an  island  so  populous  and 
strongly  defended,  and  abounding  with  mountains  in  which 
the  enemy  could  maintain  themselves,  was,  if  undertaken  by  a 
force  of  anything  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  men,  foredoomed 
to  failure.  The  force  at  first  sent  was  ridiculously  inadequate, 
and  although  it  received  reinforcements  from  time  to  time, 
these  were  not  more  than  sufficient  to  fill  the  gaps  caused 
by  fever.  Consequently,  after  four  or  five  years'  fighting,  and 
the  loss  of  fully  thirty  thousand  men,  by  fatigue,  hardship,  and 
fever,  the  effort  was  abandoned,  after  having  cost  some  thirty 
millions  of  money. 

At  the  end  of  the  war,  Toussaint  was  virtually  Dictator  of 
Hayti.  He  governed  strongly  and  well,  but  as  he  was  deter- 
mined to  admit  no  interference  on  the  part  of  the  French,  he 
was  finally  treacherously  seized  by  them,  carried  to  France, 
and  there  died,  it  is  said  by  starvation,  in  prison.  His  fore- 
bodings as  to  the  unfitness  of  the  blacks  for  self-government 
have  been  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Civil  wars,  insurrections,  and 
massacres  have  been  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception ;  the 


HOME  373 

island  has  been  gradually  going  down  in  the  scale  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  majority  of  the  blacks  are  as  savage,  ignorant, 
and  superstitious  as  their  forefathers  in  Africa.  Fetish  worship 
and  human  sacrifices  are  carried  on  in  secret,  and  the  fairest 
island  in  the  western  seas  lies  sunk  in  the  lowest  degradation  — 
a  proof  of  the  utter  incapacity  of  the  negro  race  to  evolve, 
or  even  maintain,  civilization,  without  the  example  and  the 
curb  of  a  white  population  among  them. 


"Wherever  English  is  spoken  one  imagines  that  Mr.  Henty's 
name  is  known.  One  cannot  enter  a  schoolroom  or  look  at  a 
boy's  bookshelf  without  seeing  half-a-dozen  of  his  familiar 
volumes.  Mr.  Henty  is  no  doubt  the  most  successful  writer 
for  boys,  and  the  one  to  whose  new  volumes  they  look  forward 
every  Christmas  with  most  pleasure." — Re-view  of  Reviews. 


A   LIST   OF   BOOKS 
FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE 

By 

G.  A.  HENTY, 

KIRK  MUNROE,  JAMES  WDTCOMB  RILEY. 
ERNEST  THOMPSON  SETON,  and  Others 


Published  by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

J53  to  157  Fifth  Avenue 
New  York 


Other  Volumes  of  the 
Henty  Books 

Uniform  with  This  Popular  Edition 


IN   FREEDOM'S    CAUSE 

WITH  LEE  IN 

VIRGINIA 

WITH  WOLFE   IN 

CANADA 

THE  LION  OF  ST.  MARK 

IN  THE  REIGN  OF 

TERROR 

NO  SURRENDER 

UNDER  WELLING- 
TON'S COMMAND 

WITH  FREDERICK 

THE  GREAT 

AT  ABOUKIR  AND 

ACRE 

BOTH  SIDES  THE 

BORDER 

A  MARCH  ON  LONDON 

WITH  MOORE  AT 

CORUNNA 

AT  AGINCOURT 

COCHRANE  THE 

DAUNTLESS 

ON    THE    IRRAWADDY 


THROUGH   RUSSIAN 

SNOWS 

A  KNIGHT  OF  THE 

WHITE  CROSS 

THE  TIGER  OF 

MYSORE 

IN  THE  HEART  OF 

THE  ROCKIES 

WHEN  LONDON 

BURNED 

WULF  THE  SAXON 

ST.  BARTHOLOMEW'S 
EVE 

THROUGH  THE  SIKH 
WAR 

A  JACOBITE  EXILE 

CONDEMNED   AS  A 

NIHILIST 

BERIC  THE  BRITON 
IN  GREEK  WATERS 

THE  DASH    FOR 

KHARTOUM 

REDSKIN  AND  COW- 
BOY 

HELD  FAST  FOR 

ENGLAND 


BOOKS  FOR  TO  UNO  PEOPLE 


BY  C.  A.  HENTY 

"  Among  writers  of  stories  of  adventures  for  boys  Mr.  Henty  stands 
in  the  very  first  rank." — Academy  (London). 


THE    TREASURE    OF   THE    INCAS 

A  Tale  of  Adventure  in  Peru.     With  8  full-page  Illustrations 
by  WAL  PAGET,  and  Map.     $1.20  net. 

Peru  and  the  hidden  treasures  of  her  aucient  kings  offer  Mr.  Henty  a 
.most  fertile  field  for  a  stirring  story  of  adventure  in  his  most  engaging 
style.  In  an  effort  to  win  the  girl  of  his  heart,  the  hero  penetrates  into 
the  wilds  of  the  land  of  the  Incas.  Boys  who  have  learned  to  look  for 
Mr.  Henty's  books  will  follow  his  new  hero  in  his  adventurous  and 
romantic  expedition  with  absorbing  interest.  It  is  one  of  the  most  cap- 
tivating tales  Mr.  Henty  has  yet  written. 

WITH  KITCHENER  IN  THE  SOUDAN 

A  Story  of  Atbara  and  Omdunnan.     With  10  full-page  Illus- 
trations.    $1.20  net. 

Mr.  Henty  has  never  combined  history  and  thrilling  adventure  more 
skillfully  than  in  this  extremely  interesting  story.  It  is  not  in  boy  nat- 
ure to  lay  it  aside  unfinished,  once  begun ;  and  finished,  the  reader  finds 
himself  in  possession,  not  only  of  the  facts  and  the  true  atmosphere  of 
Kitchener's  famous  Soudan  campaign,  but  of  the  Gordon  tragedy  which 
preceded  it  by  so  many  years  and  of  which  it  was  the  outcome. 

WITH  THE  BRITISH  LEGION 

A  Story  of  the  Carlist  Uprising  of  1836.     Illustrated.     81.20 
net. 

Arthur  Hallet,  a  young  English  boy,  finds  himself  in  difficulty  at 
'home,  through  certain  harmless  school  escapades,  and  enlists  in  the 
famous  "  British  Legion,"  which  was  then  embarking  for  Spain  to  take 
part  in  the  campaign  to  repress  the  Carlist  uprising  of  1836.  Arthur 
shows  his  mettle  in  the  first  fight,  distinguishes  himself  by  daring  work 
in  carrying  an  important  dispatch  to  Madrid,  makes  a  dashing  and 
thrilling  rescue  of  the  sister  of  his  patron,  and  is  rapidly  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  captain.  In  following  the  adventures  of  the  hero  the  reader  ob- 
tains, as  is  usual  with  Mr.  Henty's  stories,  a  most  accurate  and  interest- 
ing history  of  a  picturesque  campaign. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


STORIES    BY    Q.    A.    HENTY 

"  His  books  have  at  once  the  solidity  of  history  and  the  charm  of 
romance.  "-Journal  of  Education. 


TO  HERAT   AND   CABUL 

A  Story  of  the  First  Afghan  "War.     By  G.  A.  HENTY.     With 
Illustrations.      12mo,  $1.20  net. 

The  greatest  defeat  ever  experienced  by  the  British  Army  was  that 
in  the  Mountain  Passes  of  Afghanistan.  Angus  Cameron,  the  hero  of 
this  book,  having  been  captured  by  the  friendly  Afghans,  was  com- 
pelled to  be  a  witness  of  the  calamity.  His  whole  story  is  an  intensely 
interesting  one,  from  his  boyhood  in  Persia;  his  employment  underthe 
Government  at  Herat;  through  the  defense  of  that  town  against  the 
Persians;  to  Cabul,  where  he  shared  in  all  the  events  which  ended  in 
the  awful  march  through  the  Passes  from  which  but  one  man  escaped. 
Angus  is  always  at  the  point  of  danger,  and  whether  in  battle  or  in 
hazardous  expeditions  shows  how  much  a  brave  youth,  full  of 
resources,  can  do,  even  with  so  treacherous  a  foe.  His  dangers  and 
adventures  are  thrilling,  and  his  escapes  marvellous. 

WITH  ROBERTS  TO  PRETORIA 

A  Tale  of  the  South  African  War.     By  G.  A  EENTY.     With  12 
Illustrations.    $1.20  net. 

The  Boer  War  gives  Mr.  Henty  an  unexcelled  opportunity  for  a 
thrilling  story  of  present-day  interest  which  the  author  could  not  fail  to 
take  advantage  of.  Every  boy  reader  will  find  this  account  of  the  ad- 
ventures of  the  young  hero  most  exciting,  and,  at  the  same  time  a 
wonderfully  accurate  description  of  Lord  Roberta's  campaign  to  Preto- 
ria. Boys  have  found  history  in  the  dress  Mr.  Henty  gives  it  anything 
but  dull,  and  the  present  book  is  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

AT  THE  POINT  OF  THE  BAYONET 

A  Tale  of  the  Mahratta  War.    By  G.  A.  HENTY.     Illustrated. 
12mo,  $1.20  net. 

One  hundred  years  ago  the  rule  of  the  British  in  India  was  only  partly 
established.  The  powerful  Mahrattas  were  unsubdued,  and  with  their 
skill  in  intrigue,  a»d  great  military  power,  they  were  exceedingly  dan 
gerous.  The  story  of  "  At  the  Point  of  the  Bayonet"  begins  with 
toe  attempt  to  conquer  this  powerful  people.  Harry  Lindsay,  an 
infant  when  bis  father  and  mother  were  killed,  was  saved  by  his 
Mahratta  ayah,  who  carried  him  to  her  own  people  and  brought  him 
up  as  a  native.  She  taught  him  as  best  she  could,  and,  having  told  him 
liis  parentage,  sent  him  to  Bombay  to  be  educated.  At  sixteen  he  ob- 
tained a  commission  in  the  English  Army,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
Mahratta  tongue  combined  with  his  ability  and  bravery  enabled  him  to 
render  great  service  in  the  Mahratta  War,  and  carried  him,  through 
many  frightful  perils  by  land  and  sea,  to  high  rank. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


BY  G. A.  HENTY 

"Mr.   Henty  might  with  entire  propriety  be  called  the  boys'  Sir 
Walter  Scott  "—Philadelphia  Press. 


IN  THE   IRISH   BRIGADE 

A  Tale  of  War  in  Flanders  and  Spain.    With  12  Illustrations  by 
CHAKLES  M.  SHELDON.     12mo,  $1.50. 

Desmond  Kennedy  is  a  young  Irish  lad  who  left  Ireland  to  join  the 
Irish  Brigade  in  the  service  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France.  In  Paris  he  in- 
curred the  deadly  hatred  of  a  powerful  courtier  from  whom  he  had 
rescued  a  young  girl  who  had  been  kidnapped,  and  his  perils  are  of  ab- 
sorbing interest.  Captured  in  an  attempted  Jacobite  invasion  of  Scot- 
land, he  escaped  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner.  As  aid-de-camp 
to  the  Duke  of  Berwick  he  experienced  thrilling  adventures  in  Flan- 
ders. Transferred  to  the  Army  in  Spain,  he  was  nearly  assassinated, but 
escaped  to  return,  when  peace  was  declared,  to  his  native  land,  having 
received  pardon  and  having  recovered  his  estates.  The  story  is  filled 
with  adventure,  and  the  interest  never  abates. 

OUT   WITH   GARIBALDI 

A  Story  of  the  Liberation  of  Italy.    By  G.  A.  HENTY.    With 
8  Illustrations  by  W.  RAINEY,  R.I.     12mo,  $1.50. 

Garibaldi  himself  is  the  central  figure  of  this  brilliant  story,  and  the 
little-known  history  of  the  struggle  for  Italian  freedom  is  told  here  in 
the  most  thrilling  way.  From  the  time  the  hero,  a  young  lad,  son  of 
an  English  father  and  an  Italian  mother,  joins  Garibaldi's  band  of 
1,000  men  in  the  first  descent  upon  Sicily,  which  was  garrisoned  by  one 
of  the  large  Neapolitan  armies,  until  the  end,  when  all  those  armies 
are  beaten,  and  the  two  Sicilys  are  conquered,  we  follow  with  the 
keenest  interest  the  exciting  adventures  of  the  lad  in  scouting,  in 
battle,  and  in  freeing  those  in  prison  for  liberty's  sake. 

WITH   BULLER   IN  NATAL 

Or,  A  Born  Leader.     By  G.  A.  HENTY.     With  10  Illustrations 
by  W.  RAINEY.     12mo,  $1.50. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  Boer  War  compelled  Chris  King,  the  hero 
of  the  story,  to  flee  with  his  mother  from  Johannesburg  to  the  sea 
coast.  They  were  with  many  other  Uitlanders,  and  all  suffered  much 
from  the  Boers.  Reaching  a  place  of  safety  for  their  families,  Chris 
and  twenty  of  his  friends  formed  an  independent  company  of  scouts.  In 
this  service  they  were  with  Gen.  Yule  at  Glencoe,  then  in  Ladysmith, 
then  with  Buller.  In  each  place  they  had  many  thrilling  adventures. 
They  were  in  great  battles  and  in  lonely  fights  on  the  Veldt ;  were 
taken  prisoners  and  escaped;  and  they  rendered  most  valuable  service 
to  the  English  forces.  The  story  is  a  most  interesting  picture  of  the 
War  in.  South  Africa, 


BOOKS  FOR    YOU  NO    PEOPLE 


BY  G.  A.  HENTY 

"  Surely  Mr.  Henty  should  understand  boys'  tastes  better  than  any 
man  Lying." — The  Time*. 


WON   BY   THE   SWORD 

A  Tale  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.     With  12  Illustrations  by 
CHARLES  M.  SHELDON,  and  four  Plans.     12mo,  $1.50. 

The  scene  of  this  story  is  laid  in  ""Vance,  during  the  time  of  Richelieu, 
of  Mazarin  and  Anne  of  Austria.  The  hero,  Hector  Campbell,  is  the 
orphaned  son  of  a  Scotch  officer  in  the  French  Army.  How  he  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  Marshal  Turenne  and  of  the  Prince  of  Conde ; 
how  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  Colonel ;  how  he  finally  had  to  leave  France, 
pursued  by  the  deadly  hatred  of  the  Due  de  Beaufort — all  these  and 
much  more  the  story  tells  with  the  most  absorbing  interest. 

A   ROVING   COMMISSION 

Or,  Through  the  Black  Insurrection  at  Hayti.     With  12  Illus- 
trations by  WILLIAM  RAINEY.     12mo,  $1.50. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  Mr.  Henty's  books.  A  story  of 
the  sea,  with  all  its  life  and  action,  it  is  also  full  of  thrilling  adven- 
tures on  land.  So  it  holds  the  keenest  interest  until  the  end.  The 
scene  is  a  new  one  to  Mr.  Henty's  readers,  being  laid  at  the  time  of  the 
Great  Revolt  of  the  Blacks,  by  which  Hayti  became  independent. 
Toussaint  1'Overture  appears,  and  an  admirable  picture  is  given  of  him 
and  of  his  power. 

NO   SURRENDER 

The   Story  of  the  Revolt  in  La  Vendee.     With  8  Illustrations 
by  STANLEF  L.  WOOD.     12mo,  $1.50. 

The  revolt  of  La  Vendee  against  the  French  Republic  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  forms  the  groundwork  of  this  absorbing  story.  Leigh 
Stansfield,  a  young  English  lad,  is  drawn  into  the  thickest  of  the  con- 
flict. Forming  a  company  of  boys  as  scouts  for  the  Vende"an  Army, 
he  greatly  aids  the  peasants.  He  rescues  his  sister  from  the  guilloune, 
and  finally,  after  many  thrilling  experiences,  when  the  cause  of  La 
Vendee  is  lost,  he  escapes  to  England. 

UNDER  WELLINGTON'S  COMMAND 

A  Tale  of  the  Peninsular  War.     With  12  Illustrations  by  WAX, 
PAGET.    12mo,  $1.50. 

The  dashing  hero  of  this  book.  Terence  O'Connor,  was  the  hero  of 
Mr.  Henty's  previous  book,  "  With  Moore  at  Corunna,"  to  which  this 
is  really  a  sequel.  He  is  still  at  the  head  of  the  "  Minho  "  Portuguese 
regiment.  Being  detached  on  independent  and  guerilla  duty  with  his 
regiment,  he  renders  invaluable  service  in  gaining  information  and  in 
harassing  the  French.  His  command,  being  constantly  on  the  edge  of 
the  army,  is  engaged  in  frequent  skirmishes  and  some  most  important 
battles. 


BOOKS   FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


BY  G.  A,  HENTY 

"  Mr.  Henty  is  the  king  of  story-tellers  for  boys." — Sword  and  Trvwd. 


AT  ABOUKIR  AND  ACRE 

A  Story  of  Napoleon's  Invasion  of  Egypt.  With  8  full-page 
Illustrations  by  WILLIAM  RAINEY,  and  3  Plans.  12mo, 
$1.50. 

The  hero,  having  saved  the  life  of  the  son  of  an  Arab  chief,  is  taken 
Into  the  tribe,  has  a  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Pyramids  and  the  revolt 
at  Cairo.  He  is  an  eye-witness  of  the  famous  naval  battle  of  Aboukir, 
and  later  Is  in  the  hardest  of  the  defense  of  Acre. 

BOTH  SIDES  THE  BORDER 

A  Tale  of  Hotspur  and  Glendower.  With  13  full-page  Illus- 
trations by  RALPH  PEACOCK.  12mo,  $1.50. 

This  is  a  brilliant  story  of  the  stirring  times  of  the  beginning  of  the 
"Wars  of  the  Roses,  when  the  Scotch,  under  Douglas,  and  the  Welsh, 
under  Owen  Glendower,  were  attacking  the  English.  The  hero  of  the 
book  lived  near  the  Scotch  border,  and  saw  many  a  hard  fight  there. 
Entering  the  service  of  Lord  Percy,  he  was  sent  to  Wales,  where  he 
was  knighted,  and  where  he  was  captured.  Being  released,  he  returned 
home,  and  shared  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Shrewsbury. 


WITH  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT 

A  Tale  of  the  Seven  Years'  War.     With  12  full-page  Illustra- 
tions.    12mo,  $1.50. 

The  hero  of  this  story  while  still  a  youth  entered  the  service  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  by  a  succession  of  fortunate  circumstances 
and  perilous  adventures,  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  Attached  to  the 
staff  of  the  king,  he  rendered  distinguished  services  in  many  battles,  in 
one  of  which  he  saved  the  king's  life.  Twice  captured  and  imprisoned, 
he  both  times  escaped  from  the  Austrian  fortresses. 

A  MARCH  ON  LONDON 

A  Story  of  Wat  Tyler's  Rising.     With  8  full-page  Illustra- 
tions by  W.  H.  MARGETSON.    12mo,  $1.50. 

The  story  of  Wat  Tyler's  Rebellion  is  but  little  known,  but  the  hero 
of  this  story  passes  through  that  perilous  time  and  takes  part  in  the 
civil  war  in  Flanders  which  followed  soon  after.  Although  young  he 
is  thrown  into  many  exciting  and  dangerous  adventures,  through  which 
he  passes  with  great  coolness  and  much  credit. 


BOOKS   FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


BY  G.  A.  HENTY 


"  No  country  nor  epoch  of  history  la  there  which  Mr.  Henty  does  not 
know,  and  what  is  really  remarkable  is  that  he  always  writes  well  and 
interestingly." — New  York  Times. 


WITH  MOORE  AT  CORUNNA 

A  Story  of  the  Peninsular  War.  With  12  full-page  Illustra- 
tions by  WAL  PAGET.  12mo,  $1.50. 

Terence  O'Connor  is  living  with  his  widowed  father,  Captain  O'Con- 
nor of  the  Mayo  Fusiliers,  with  the  regiment  at  the  time  when  the 
Peninsular  war  began.  Upon  the  regiment  being  ordered  to  Spain, 
Terence  gets  appointed  as  aid  to  one  of  the  generals  of  a  division.  By 
his  bravery  and  great  usefulness  throughout  the  war,  he  is  rewarded 
by  a  commission  as  colonel  in  the  Portuguese  army  and  there  rendered 
great  service. 

AT  AGINCOURT 

A  Tale  of  the  White  Hoods  of  Paris.  With  12  full-page 
Illustrations  by  WALTER  PAGET.  Crown  8vo,  olivine 
edges,  $1.50. 

The  story  begins  in  a  grim  feudal  castle  in  Normandie.  The  times 
were  troublous,  and  soon  the  king  compelled  Lady  Margaret  de  Villeroy 
with  her  children  to  go  to  Paris  as  hostages.  Guy  Aylmer  went  with 
her.  Paris  was  turbulent.  Soon  the  guild  of  the  butchers,  adopting 
white  hoods  as  their  uniform,  seized  the  city,  and  besieged  the  house 
where  our  hero  and  his  charges  lived.  After  desperate  fighting,  the 
white  hoods  were  beaten  and  our  hero  and  his  charges  escaped  from 
the  city,  and  from  France. 

WITH  COCHRANE  THE  DAUNTLESS 

A  Tale  of  the  Exploits  of  Lord  Cochrane  in  South  American 
Waters.  With  12  full-page  Illustrations  by  W.  H. 
MARGETSON.  Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero  of  this  story  accompanies  Cochrane  as  midshipman,  and 
serves  in  the  war  between  Chili  and  Peru.  He  has  many  exciting1 
adventures  in  battles  by  sea  and  land,  is  taken  prisoner  and  condemned 
to  death  by  the  Inquisition,  but  escapes  by  a  long  and  thrilling  flight 
across  South  America  and  down  the  Amazon. 

ON  THE  IRRAWADDY 

A  Story  of  the  First  Burmese  War.  With  8  full  page  Illus- 
trations by  W.  H.  OVEREND.  Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges, 
11.50. 

The  hero,  having  an  uncle,  a  trader  on  the  Indian  and  Burmese 
rivers,  goes  out  to  join  him.  Soon  after,  war  is  declared  by  Burmah 
against  England  and  he  is  drawn  into  it.  He  has  many  experiences 
and  narrow  escapes  in  battles  and  in  scouting.  With  half-a-dozen 
men  ha  rescues  his  cousin  who  had  been  taken  prisoner,  and  in  the 
flight  they  are  besieged  in  an  old,  ruined  temple. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


BY  G.  A.  HENTY 

"  Boys  like  stirring  adventures,  and  Mr.  Henty  is  a  master  of  this 
method  of  composition." — New  York  Tones. 


THROUGH   RUSSIAN  SNOWS 

A  Story  of  Napoleon's  Retreat  from  Moscow.  With  8  full- 
page  Illustrations  by  W.  H.  OVEREND  and  3  Maps.  Crown 
8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero,  Julian  Wyatt,  after  several  adventures  with  smugglers,  by 
whom  he  is  handed  over  a  prisoner  to  the  French,  regains  his  freedom 
and  joins  Napoleon's  army  in  the  Russian  campaign.  When  the  terrible 
retreat  begins,  Julian  finds  himself  in  the  rearguard  of  the  French  army, 
fighting  desperately.  Ultimately  he  escapes  out  of  the  general  disaster, 
and  returns  to  England. 

A  KNIGHT   OF    THE  WHITE   CROSS 

A  Tale  of  the  Siege  of  Rhodes.  With  12  full-page  Illustra- 
tions by  RALPH  PEACOCK,  and  a  Plan.  Crown  8vo,  olivine 
edges,  $1.50. 

Gervaise  Tresham,  the  hero  of  this  story,  joins  the  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  and  proceeds  to  the  stronghold  of  Rhodes.  Sub- 
sequently he  is  appointed  commander  of  a  war-galley,  and  in  his  first 
voyage  destroys  a  fleet  of  Moorish  corsairs.  During  one  of  his  cruises 
the  young  knight  is  attacked  on  shore,  captured  after  a  desperate 
struggle,  and  sold  into  slavery  in  Tripoli.  He  succeeds  in  escaping,  and 
returns  to  Rhodes  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  defense  of  that  fortress. 

THE   TIGER   OF   MYSORE 

A  Story  of  the  War  with  Tippoo  Saib.  With  12  full-page 
Illustrations  by  W.  H.  MARGETSON,  and  a  Map.  Crown 
8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

Dick  Holland,  whose  father  is  supposed  to  be  a  captive  of  Tippoo 
Saib,  goes  to  India  to  help  him  to  escape.  He  joins  the  army  under 
Lord  Cornwallis,  and  takes  part  in  the  campaign  againt  Tippoo. 
Afterwards  he  assumes  a  disguise,  enters  Seringapatam,  and  at  last 
he  discovers  his  father  in  the  great  stronghold  of  Savandroog.  The 
hazardous  rescue  is  at  length  accomplished,  and  the  young  fellow's 
dangerous  mission  is  done. 

IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  ROCKIES 

A  Story  of  Adventure  in  Colorado.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With 
8  full-page  Illustrations  by  G.  C.  HINDLEY.  Crown  8vo, 
olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero,  Tom  Wade,  goes  to  seek  his  uncle  in  Colorado,  who  is  a 
hunter  and  gold-digger,  and  he  is  discovered,  after  many  dangers,  out 
on  the  Plains  with  some  comrades.  Going  in  quest  of  a  gold  mine,  the 
little  band  is  spied  by  Indians,  chased  across  the  Bad  Lands,  and 
overwhelmed  by  a  snowstorm  in  the  mountains. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


BY  G.  A,  HENTY 

"Mr.  Henty  is  one  of  the  best  story-tellers  for  young  people." 

— Spectator. 


WHEN   LONDON   BURNED 

A  Story  of  the  Plague  and  the  Fire.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With 
12  full-page  Illustrations  by  J.  FINNEMORE.  Crown  8vo, 
olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero  of  this  story  was  the  son  of  a  nobleman  who  had  lost  his 
estates  durfag  the  troublous  times  of  the  Commonwealth.  During  the 
Great  Plague  and  the  Great  Fire,  Cyril  was  prominent  among  those 
who  brought  help  to  the  panic-stricken  inhabitants. 

WULF  THE  SAXON 

A  Story  of  the  Norman  Conquest.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With 
12  full-page  Illustrations  by  RALPH  PEACOCK.  Crown 
8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero  is  a  young  thane  who  wins  the  favor  of  Earl  Harold  and 
becomes  one  of  his  retinue.  When  Harold  becomes  King  of  England 
Wulf  assists  in  the  Welsh  wars,  and  takes  part  against  the  Norsemen 
at  the  Battle  of  Stamford  Bridge.  When  William  of  Normandy  in- 
vades England,  Wulf  is  with  the  English  host  at  Hastings,  and  stands 
by  his  king  to  the  last  in  the  mighty  struggle. 

ST.  BARTHOLOMEW'S  EVE 

A  Tale  of  the  Huguenot  Wars.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With  12 
full-page  Illustrations  by  H.  J.  DRAPER,  and  a  Map. 
Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero,  Philip  Fletcher,  has  a  French  connection  on  his  mother's 
side.  This  induces  him  to  cross  the  Channel  in  order  to  take  a  share 
in  the  Huguenot  wars.  Naturally  he  sides  with  the  Protestants,  dis- 
tinguishes himself  in  various  battles,  and  receives  rapid  promotion  for 
the  zeal  and  daring  with  which  he  carries  out  several  secret  missions. 

THROUGH  THE  SIKH  WAR 

A  Tale  of  the  Conquest  of  the  Punjaub.  By  G.  A.  HENTY. 
With  12  full-page  illustrations  by  HAL  HURST,  and  a 
Map.  Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

Percy  Groves,  a  spirited  English  lad,  joins  his  uncle  in  the  Punjaub, 
where  the  natives  are  in  a  state  of  revolt.  Percy  joins  the  British 
force  as  a  volunteer,  and  takes  a  distinguished  share  in  the  famous 
battles  of  the  Punjaub. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUAG   PEOPLE 


BY  G. A.  HENTY 

"  The  brightest  of  the  living  writers  whose  office  it  is  to  enchant  the 
boys. —  Christian  Leader. 


A  JACOBITE  EXILE 

Being  the  Adventures  of  a  Young  Englishman  in  the  Service 

of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden.     By  G.  A.   HENTY.  With  8 

full-page  Illustrations  by  PAUL  HARDY,  and  a  Map.  Crown 
8vo,  olivine  edge*,  $1.50. 

Sir  Marmaduke  Carstairs,  a  Jacobite,  is  the  victim  of  a  conspiracy,  and 
he  is  denounced  as  a  plotter  against  the  life  of  King  William.  He  flies 
to  Sweden,  accompanied  by  his  son  Charlie.  This  youth  joins  the 
foreign  legion  under  Charles  XII.,  and  takes  a  distinguished  part  in 
several  famous  campaigns  against  the  Russians  and  Poles. 

CONDEMNED  AS  A  NIHILIST 

A  Story  of  Escape  from  Siberia.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With  8 
full-page  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  hero  of  this  story  is  an  English  boy  resident  in  St.  Petersburg. 
Through  two  student  friends  he  becomes  innocently  involved  in 
various  political  plots,  resulting  in  his  seizure  by  the  Russian  police 
and  his  exile  to  Siberia.  He  ultimately  escapes,  and,  after  many  ex- 
citing adventures,  he  reaches  Norway,  and  thence  home,  after  a 
perilous  journey  which  lasts  nearly  two  years. 

BERIC  THE  BRITON 

A  Story  of  the  Roman  Invasion.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With 
12  full-page  Illustrations  by  W.  PARKINSON.  Crown  8vo, 
olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

This  story  deals  with  the  invasion  of  Britain  by  the  Roman  legionaries. 
Beric,  who  is  a  boy-chief  of  a  British  tribe,  takes  a  prominent  part  in 
the  insurrection  under  Boadicea ;  and  after  the  defeat  of  that  heroic 
queen  (in  A.  D.  62)  he  continues  the  struggle  in  the  fen-country. 
Ultimately  Beric  is  defeated  and  carried  captive  to  Rome,  where  he  is 
trained  in  the  exercise  of  arms  in  a  school  of  gladiators.  At  length  he 
returns  to  Britain,  where  he  becomes  ruler  of  his  own  people. 

IN  GREEK  WATERS 

A  Story  of  the  Grecian  War  of  Independence  (1821-1827).  By 
G.  A.  HENTY.  With  12  full-page  Illustrations  by  W.  S. 
STAGEY,  and  a  Map.  Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

Deals  with  the  revolt  of  the  Greeks  in  1821  against  Turkish  oppres- 
sion. Mr.  Beveridge  and  his  son  Horace  fit  out  a  privateer,  load  it 
with  military  stores,  and  set  sail  for  Greece.  They  rescue  the  Chris- 
tians, relieve  the  captive  Greeks,  and  fight  the  Turkish  war  vessels. 


BOOKS  FOR    TOVNO   PEOPLE 


BYG.  A.  HENTY 

"  No  living  writer  of  books  for  boys  writes  to  better  purpose  than 
Mr.  G.  A.  Henty."— Philadelphia  Press. 


THE  DASH  FOR  KHARTOUM 

A  Tale  of  the  Nile  Expedition.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With  10 
full-page  Illustrations  by  JOHN  SCHONBERG  and  J.  NASH. 
Crown  8vo,  olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

In  the  record  of  recent  British  history  there  is  no  more  captivating 
page  for  boys  than  the  story  of  the  Nile  campaign,  and  the  attempt  to 
rescue  General  Gordon.  For,  in  the  difficulties  which  the  expedition 
encountered,  in  the  perils  which  it  overpassed,  and  in  its  final  tragic 
disappointments,  are  found  all  the  excitements  of  romance,  as  well  as 
the  fascination  which  belongs  to  real  events. 

REDSKIN  AND  COW-BOY 

A  Tale  of  the  Western  Plains.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With  12 
full-page  Illustrations  by  ALFRED  PEARSE.  Crown  8vo, 
olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

The  central  interest  of  this  story  is  found  in  the  many  adventures  of 
an  English  lad,  who  seeks  employment  as  a  cow-boy  on  a  cattle  ranch. 
His  experiences  during  a  "  round-up  "  present  in  picturesque  form  the 
toilsome,  exciting,  adventurous  life  of  a  cow-boy  ;  while  the  perils  of  a 
*n»ntier  settlement  are  vividly  set  forth  in  an  Indian  raid. 


HELD  FAST  FOR  ENGLAND 

A  Tale  of  the  Siege  of  Gibraltar.  By  G.  A.  HENTY.  With 
8  full-page  Illustrations  by  GORDON  BROWNE.  Crown  8vo, 
olivine  edges,  $1.50. 

This  story  deals  with  one  of  the  most  memorable  sieges  in  history — 
the  siege  of  Gibraltar  in  1779-83  by  the  united  forces  of  France  and 
Spain.  With  land  forces,  fleets,  and  floating  batteries,  the  combined 
resources  of  two  great  nations,  this  grim  fortress  was  vainly  besieged 
and  bombarded.  The  hero  of  the  tale,  an  English  lad  resident  in 
Gibraltar,  takes  a  brave  and  worthy  part  in  the  long  defence,  and  it  is 
through  his  varied  experiences  that  we  learn  with  what  bravery,  re- 
source, and  tenacity  the  Rock  was  held  for  England. 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE 


A  List  of  Books  by 
Kirk  Munroe 

A  SON  OF  SATSUMA 

Or,  with  Perry  in  Japan.     By  KTRK  MUNROE.     With  12  illus- 
trations by  HARRY  C.  EDWARDS.     $1.00  net. 

This  absorbing  story  for  boys  deals  with  one  of  the  most  interesting 
episodes  in  our  National  history.  From  the  beginning  Japan  has  been  a 
land  of  mystery.  Foreigners  were  permitted  to  land  only  at  certain 
points  on  her  shores,  and  nothing  whatever  was  known  of  her  civilization 
and  history,  her  romance  and  magnificence,  her  wealth  and  art.  It  was 
Commodore  Perry  who  opened  her  gates  to  the  world,  thus  solving  the 
mystery  of  the  ages,  and,  in  this  thrilling  story  of  an  American  boy  in 
Japan  at  that  period,  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  history  of  this  great 
achievement  is  ably  set  forth. 

IN  PIRATE  WATERS 

A  Tale  of  the  American  Navy.     Illustrated  by  I.  W.  TABEB. 
12ino,  SI- 25. 

The  hero  of  the  story  becomes  a  midshipman  in  the  navy  just  at  the 
time  of  the  war  with  Tripoli.  His  own  wild  adventures  among  the 
Turks  and  his  love  romance  are  thoroughly  interwoven  with  the  stirring 
history  of  that  time. 


WITH  CROCKETT  AND  BOWIE 

Or,  Fighting  for  the  Lone  Star  Flag.  A  Tale  of  Texas.  By 
KIRK  MUNROE.  With  8  full-page  Illustrations  by  YICTOR 
P^RARD.  Crown  8vo.  $1.25. 

The  story  is  of  the  Texas  revolution  in  1835,  when  American  Texans 
under  Sam  Houston,  Bowie,  Crockett,  and  Travis  fought  for  relief  from 
the  intolerable  tyranny  of  the  Mexican  Santa  Ana.  The  hero,  Rex 
Hardin,  son  of  a  Texan  ranchman  and  graduate  of  an  American  military 
school,  takes  a  prominent  part  in  the  heroic  defense  of  the  Alamo,  and 
the  final  triumph  at  San  Jacinto. 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE 


BY  KIRK  MUNROE 

THROUGH  SWAMP  AND  GLADE 

A  Tale  of  the  Seminole  War.  By  KIRK  MUNBOE.  With  8 
full-page  Illustration?  by  V.  P£RARD.  Crown  8vo,  $1.25. 

Coacoochee,  the  hero  of  the  story,  is  the  son  of  Philip,  the  chieftain  of 
the  Seminoles.  He  grows  up  to  lead  his  tribe  in  the  long  struggle  which 
resulted  in  the  Indians  being  driven  from  the  north  of  Florida  down  to 
the  distant  southern  wilderness. 

AT  WAR  WITH  PONTIAC 

Or,  the  Totem  of  the  Bear.  A  Tale  qf  Redcoat  and  Redskin. 
By  KIRK  MUNROE.  With  8  full-page  illustrations  by  J. 
FINNEMORE.  Crown  8vo,  $1.25. 

A  story  when  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  were  held  by  hostile  Indians. 
The  hero,  Donald  Hester,  goes  in  search  of  his  sister  Edith,  who  has 
been  captured  by  the  Indians.  Strange  and  terrible  are  his  experiences ; 
for  he  is  wounded,  taken  prisoner,  condemned  to  be  burned,  but  contrives 
to  escape.  In  the  end  all  things  terminate  happily. 

THE  WHITE  CONQUERORS 

A  Tale  of  Toltec  and  Aztec.  By  KIRK  MUNBOE.  With  8  full- 
page  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  $1.25. 

This  story  deals  with  the  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez  and  his  Span- 
iards, the  "  White  Conquerors,"  who,  after  man}'  deeds  of  valor,  pushed 
their  way  into  the  great  Aztec  kingdom  and  established  their  power  in 
the  wondrous  city  where  Montezuma  reigned  in  splendor. 

MIDSHIPMAN   STUART 

Or,  the  Last  Cruise  of  the  Essex.  A  Tale  of  the  War  of 
1812.  Illustrated.  12mo,  $1.25. 

This  is  an  absorbing  story  of  life  in  the  American  Navy  during  the 
stirring  times  of  our  war  of  1812.  The  very  spirit  of  the  period  is  in  its 
pages,  and  many  of  the  adventures  of  the  Essex  are  studied  from  history. 


BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE 


BY  ERNEST  THOMPSON  SETON 
LIVES  OF  THE  HUNTED 

Being  a  true  account  of  the  doings  of  four  quadrupeds  and 
three  birds.  With  200  Illustrations.  $1.75  net.  (Post- 
age, 15  cents.) 

"Should  be  put  with  Kipling  and  Hans  Christian  Andersen  as  a 
classic." — THE  ATHENAEUM  (London). 

WILD  ANIMALS  I  HAVE   KNOWN 

With  200  Illustrations.     $2.00. 

Mr.  Ernest  Thompson  Seton's  first  and  most  famous  book.  More  than 
100,000  have  been  sold 'so  far. 

BY  JAMES  WHITCOMB  RILEY 

THE  BOOK  OF  JOYOUS  CHILDREN 

Profusely  Illustrated. 

The  sweetness,  the  grace,  the  laughter,  and  the  tenderness  of  Mr. 
Riley's  best  verse  are  found  to  the  full  in  this  book  of  delightful  poems 
for  and  about  children.  The  illustrations  have  been  made  under  the 
author's  supervision,  and  portray  the  scenes  and  the  little  heroes  and 
heroines  of  the  poems  with  artistic  fidelity. 

BY  CYRUS  TOWNSEND  BRADY 

IN  THE  WASP'S  NET 

The  Story  of  a  Sea  Waif.  Illustrated.  $1.50  net.  (Postage, 
16  cents.) 

A  vigorous  story  of  the  war  of  1812.  The  hero,  a  midshipman,  serves 
gallantly  aboard  two  famous  American  ships,  each  bearing  the  name  of 
Wasp,  having  many  adventures  of  storm,  battle,  and  capture. 

BY  THOMAS  NELSON  PACE 
A  CAPTURED  SANTA  GLAUS 

Illustrated  in  Colors. 

This  exquisite  story  of  childhood  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  that  even 
Mr.  Page  has  written.  It  is  an  episode  of  the  Civil  War  in  which  chil- 
dren are  the  little  heroes.  The  period  is  the  Christmas  time,  and  th» 
scene  is  between  the  lines  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies. 


BOOKS  FOR    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


JEB  MUTTON,  A  GEORGIA  BOY 

By  JAMES  B.  CONNOLLY.  Illustrated.  $1.20  net.  (Postage, 
13  cents.) 

A  thoroughly  interesting  and  breezy  tale  of  boy-life  along  the 
Savannah  River  by  a  writer  who  knows  boys,  and  who  has  succeeded 
in  making  of  the  adventures  of  Jeb  and  his  friends  a  story  that  will 
keep  his  young  readers  absorbed  to  the  last  page. 

KING  MOMBO 

By  PAUL  Du  CHAILLU.  Author  of  "  The  World  of  the  Great 
Forest,"  etc.  With  24  illustrations.  $1.50  net.  (Postage, 
16  cents.) 

The  scene  is  the  great  African  forest.  It  is  a  book  of  interesting 
experiences  with  native  tribes,  and  thrilling  and  perilous  adventures  in 
hunting  elephants,  crocodiles,  gorillas  and  other  fierce  creatures 
among  which  this  famous  explorer  lived  so  long. 

A  NEW  BOOK  FOR  GIRLS 

By  LINA  BEAKD  and  ADELIA  B.  BEARD.  Authors  of  "  The 
American  Girl's  Handy  Book."  Profusely  Illustrated. 

An  admirable  collection  of  entirely  new  and  original  indoor  and  out- 
door pastimes  for  American  girls,  each  fully  and  interestingly  de- 
scribed and  explained,  and  all  designed  to  stimulate  the  taste  and 
Ingenuity  at  the  same  time  that  they  entertain. 

SEA   FIGHTERS    FROM   DRAKE   TO 
FARRAGUT 

By  JESSIE  PEABODY  FROTHINOHAM.  Illustrations  by  REUTER- 
DAHL.  $1.20  net.  (Postage,  14  cents.) 

Drake,  Tromp,  De  Renter,  Tourville,  Suffren,  Paul  Jones,  Nelson 
and  Farragut  are  the  naval  heroes  here  pictured,  and  each  is  shown  in 
some  great  episode  which  illustrates  his  personality  and  heroism.  The 
book  is  full  of  the  very  spirit  of  daring  and  adventurous  achievement. 

BOB  AND  HIS  GUN 

By  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  LINN.    With  8  Illustrations. 

The  adventures  of  a  boy  with  a  gun  under  the  instruction  of  his 
cousin,  an  accomplished  sportsman.  The  book's  aim  is  to  interest 
boys  in  hunting  in  the  spirit  of  true  sport  and  to  instruct  in  the  ways 
of  game  birds  and  animals. 


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